MELLON, ANDREW WILLIAM Ameri can banker and public official, was born in Pittsburgh, Pa., on March 24, 1855, and was educated at Western university (now University of Pittsburgh). He entered the banking house of Thomas Mellon and Sons, which later developed into the Mellon National Bank, the Union Trust Company and the Union Savings Bank, all of Pittsburgh; was president of the Mellon National Bank, Pittsburgh, and officer or director in various financial and industrial corporations, and also engaged in development of many industrial enterprises. He resigned as president of the Mellon Na tional Bank on March 1, 1921, to assume office as secretary of the Treasury in the cabinet of President Harding (March 4, remaining in that office under President Coolidge. He was chair man ex-officio of the Federal Reserve board, Farm Loan board, War Finance corporation, United States section of the Inter American high commission; director-general of railroads; and chairman of the Pennsylvania delegation to the Republican National Convention at Cleveland, 0., on June io, As chairman ex-officio of the World War foreign debt commis sion, Mellon had a large share in formulating the policy of the United States in regard to funding the war debts of foreign Govern ments owed to the U.S. Government. He stressed the importance of debtor nations preserving the sanctity of their respective obli gations, but laid down that no nation can be asked to pay another Government sums in excess of its normal capacity, and, further, that no settlement which is oppressive and retards the recovery and development of the foreign debtor or produces a bad effect on the standard of living is to the best interests of the United States or of Europe. In this spirit he conducted negotiations with the
various European debtor States which resulted in funding agree ments being arrived at with Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Estonia, Finland, France, Great Britain, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Rumania and Yugoslavia. The principal obligations funded under these agreements amounted to besides funded interest of $1,711,259,905.97. Only a few years later all of these countries except Finland ceased paying.
In the management of the government's large internal debt, Mellon was equally successful. He adhered rigidly to a policy of providing for debt redemption out of current revenues. As the floating debts and the Liberty Loans fell due they were in part paid off, in part refunded at a lower rate of interest. As a result the U.S. national debt fell from $25,738,000,000 on June 3o, 1921, to $17,604,000,000 on June 3o, 1928. Mellon was a strong ad v ocate also of tax reduction, especially in the case of the surtax rates on incomes, maintaining that these should not in peace times exceed a maximum of io%. Congress gradually lowered the in come tax rate until in 1926 the maximum surtax was reduced to 2o%. Mellon was continued in office under President Hoover in spite of growing criticism until Feb. 1932 when an appointment as Ambassador to England enabled him to withdraw. In 1937 he gave his very valuable art collection and a Gallery in Washington to the nation. He died on August 26, 1937.