Disgraced Banker Prepares to Face the Music
After the collapse of the Home Securities Bank in Bellingham, the fugitive president returns to answer for the $300,000 loss.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
H. J. Welty, formerly president of the Home Securities Bank of Bellingham, who disappeared two days before the bank closed last February and for whose arrest in connection with the wrecking of the institution a reward of $1,000 had been offered, has notified Prosecuting Attorney Livesley through business friends that he is on his way to Bellingham, where he will surrender and plead guilty. The reward offered will be withdrawn. Welty is charged with using bank funds to finance various land company enterprises. The bank failed for $300,000, and is expected to pay depositors about 40 per cent of their claims.
“Welty is charged with using bank funds to finance various land company enterprises.”
Bank failures in the early 1900s were devastating, often wiping out the life savings of entire communities. This story illustrates the fragility of the frontier banking system when speculation and personal interest replaced fiduciary responsibility, a theme that resonates through every modern financial crisis.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.