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Independent Treasury System

(Encyclopedia)Independent Treasury System, in U.S. history, system for the retaining of government funds in the Treasury and its subtreasuries independently of the national banking and financial systems. In one for...

Case Western Reserve University

(Encyclopedia)Case Western Reserve University, at Cleveland; coeducational; est. 1967 through the merger of the Case Institute of Technology (chartered 1880, opened 1881) and Western Reserve Univ. (chartered and op...

sweating system

(Encyclopedia)sweating system, method of exploiting labor by supplying materials to workers and paying by the piece (see piecework) for work done on those materials in the workers' homes or in small workshops (swea...

Federal Theatre

(Encyclopedia)Federal Theatre (1935–39), branch of the Work Projects Administration designed to provide employment for actors, directors, writers, and scene designers. As well as providing a nationwide audience w...

Nahanni National Park Reserve

(Encyclopedia)Nahanni National Park Reserve nəhănˈē [key], c.1,840 sq mi (4,766 sq km), Northwest Territories, Canada, W of Fort Simpson; est. 1972. Located just E of the Yukon border, the park extends along th...

international monetary system

(Encyclopedia)international monetary system, rules and procedures by which different national currencies are exchanged for each other in world trade. Such a system is necessary to define a common standard of value ...

European Monetary System

(Encyclopedia)European Monetary System, arrangement by which most nations of the European Union (EU) linked their currencies to prevent large fluctuations relative to one another. It was organized in 1979 to stabil...

Martin, William McChesney, Jr.

(Encyclopedia)Martin, William McChesney, Jr., 1906–98, U.S. banker, chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (1951–70), b. St. Louis. After an early career as a stockbroker, Martin becam...

National Forest System

(Encyclopedia)National Forest System, federally owned reserves, c.191 million acres (77.4 million hectares), administered by the Forest Service of the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture. The system is made up of 155 nationa...

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