<P> The 1911--12 Republican plan was proposed by Aldrich to solve the banking dilemma, a goal which was supported by the American Bankers' Association . The plan provided for one great central bank, the National Reserve Association, with a capital of at least $100 million and with 15 branches in various sections . The branches were to be controlled by the member banks on a basis of their capitalization . The National Reserve Association would issue currency, based on gold and commercial paper, that would be the liability of the bank and not of the government . The Association would also carry a portion of member banks' reserves, determine discount reserves, buy and sell on the open market, and hold the deposits of the federal government . The branches and businessmen of each of the 15 districts would elect thirty out of the 39 members of the board of directors of the National Reserve Association . </P> <P> Aldrich fought for a private monopoly with little government influence, but conceded that the government should be represented on the board of directors . Aldrich then presented what was commonly called the "Aldrich Plan"--which called for establishment of a "National Reserve Association"--to the National Monetary Commission . Most Republicans and Wall Street bankers favored the Aldrich Plan, but it lacked enough support in the bipartisan Congress to pass . </P> <P> Because the bill was introduced by Aldrich, who was considered the epitome of the "Eastern establishment", the bill received little support . It was derided by southerners and westerners who believed that wealthy families and large corporations ran the country and would thus run the proposed National Reserve Association . The National Board of Trade appointed Warburg as head of a committee to persuade Americans to support the plan . The committee set up offices in the then - 45 states and distributed printed materials about the proposed central bank . The Nebraskan populist and frequent Democratic presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan said of the plan: "Big financiers are back of the Aldrich currency scheme ." He asserted that if it passed, big bankers would "then be in complete control of everything through the control of our national finances ." </P> <P> There was also Republican opposition to the Aldrich Plan . Republican Sen. Robert M. La Follette and Rep. Charles Lindbergh Sr. both spoke out against the favoritism that they contended the bill granted to Wall Street . "The Aldrich Plan is the Wall Street Plan...I have alleged that there is a' Money Trust"', said Lindbergh . "The Aldrich plan is a scheme plainly in the interest of the Trust". In response, Rep. Arsène Pujo, a Democrat from Louisiana, obtained congressional authorization to form and chair a subcommittee (the Pujo Committee) within the House Committee Banking Committee, to conduct investigative hearings on the alleged "Money Trust". The hearings continued for a full year and were led by the subcommittee's counsel, Democratic lawyer Samuel Untermyer, who later also assisted in drafting the Federal Reserve Act . The "Pujo hearings" convinced much of the populace that America's money largely rested in the hands of a select few on Wall Street . The Subcommittee issued a report saying: </P>

Who created the federal reserve and when was it created