The Struggle for a Collapsing Bank
A legal power struggle unfolds between the Washington National Bank of Tacoma and federal regulators.
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An important case was heard before Judge Hanford in the U.S. district court regarding the Washington National Bank of Tacoma. The bank had declared voluntary liquidation, but federal Comptroller Eckels intervened, deeming the move unsatisfactory and attempting to install a government-appointed receiver, Stewart Rice. The bank directors resisted this federal takeover, leading to an urgent transfer of the case to Seattle. Judge Hanford took the matter under advisement, noting that the plea would decide whether the bank’s management or the federal government would control the liquidation process.
“The bank had gone into the courts to endeavor to get out of the hands of the comptroller of the currency.”
The collapse of the Washington National Bank during the economic volatility of the 1890s serves as a reminder of Seattle and Tacoma's vulnerability to national financial panics. Such disputes over institutional control and the role of federal regulators echo the recurring boom-and-bust cycles that have shaped the Puget Sound region for over a century.
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