The Bank Run and the Banker
Working-class depositors confront a prominent Seattle banker after a local financial collapse.
Some workingmen whom Will P. Jenkins sympathizes with have deposits in the First National Bank. Billy is one of the plutocrats and a director in that bank. About a year ago, when a run was made on the bank, Jenkins pasted a tag on the door saying he would see that depositors were paid, claiming he was worth $500,000. Depositors would like to see Jenkins make some statement about local financial affairs and let go of the Rothschilds for a few minutes. As the owner of 1,000 acres of land, Jenkins might be able to settle a number of depositors' accounts by letting them have land at reasonable prices. Since they have found him out, the workingmen are dropping him like a hot potato.
“Billy is very free to accuse everyone with being bribed and the paid tool of corporations... since they have found him out, they are dropping him like a hot potato.”
This reflects the volatile era of Seattle's bank failures in the 1890s, where prominent boosters and bank directors faced public scrutiny and populist rage. It illustrates the age-old tension between local power brokers and the depositors left holding the bag during a crash.
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