Newport Depositors Keep Their Nerve During the Panic of 1907

The Spokane Review of Sunday, in its editorial columns, had the following:

The sensible way in which the people of Newport, in this state, have agreed to meet the conditions brought about by the financial flurry entitles them to commendation. A local bank, though perfectly solvent, found itself, like many others, unable to realize fast enough on its loans to meet a run by depositors if one had started, and it adopted a policy of paying out only small amounts on checks. Its customers were wise enough to grasp the real situation and to accept with confidence a statement issued by the bank officials. In the statement assurance was given that the stockholders were signing a guarantee securing the depositors from loss of any portion of their money, on the understanding that the depositors give the bank a reasonable time to collect its loans. Bank officials, stockholders and depositors recognized their community of interest. Fears, if any had arisen, gave place to confidence, and a scarcely perceptible panicky feeling disappeared.

The citizens of Newport met a serious problem in a praiseworthy manner. Though their deposits of $165,000 in that particular bank were relatively small when compared with the millions on deposit elsewhere, they meant much to those who owned them. The action of the Newport people illustrates the sound common sense which has been pretty generally manifested throughout the nation.