National Bank of Commerce

Bank Information

Episode Type: Run → Suspension → Closure
Bank Type: national
Bank ID: 733
Charter Number: 733
Start Date: October 1, 1907*
Location: New York, New York (40.714, -74.006)

Metadata

Model: gpt-5-mini
Short Digest: c668a51f

Response Measures

Full suspension

Other: Bank was dominated by Charles W. Morse; misconduct led to collapse and criminal convictions.

Description

Articles describe the National Bank of Commerce being under pressure in the 1907 panic, suspending/closing and later revelations/convictions for misapplication of funds (Morse/Curtis). Sequence: run during 1907 panic, suspension/closure, and criminal proceedings thereafter. Dates are approximate when newspaper did not give exact day. Measures included large loans/deposits orchestrated by J.P. Morgan and Treasury to relieve the panic.

Events (5)

1. January 19, 1865 Chartered

Source: historical_nic

2. October 1, 1907* Suspension

Cause: Bank Specific Adverse Info
Cause Details: Bank suspended amid revelations and long-standing troubles (high interest paid on balances, alleged misuse of funds) and the 1907 panic; loss of confidence forced suspension of business and eventual closing.
Newspaper Excerpt: National Bank of Commerce, one of largest financial institutions of ... suspended.
Source: newspapers

3. October 24, 1907 Run

Cause: Bank Specific Adverse Info
Cause Details: Loss of confidence tied to Charles W. Morse's misuse of bank funds and general panic in October 1907 leading to heavy withdrawals.
Measures: Relief via coordinated loans and deposits (J.P. Morgan and Treasury deposited funds to stabilize banks).
Newspaper Excerpt: Morse is blamed for the beginning of the panic which began last October.
Source: newspapers

4. November 1, 1907* Receivership

Newspaper Excerpt: he was in position to use the funds and standing of the bank to further any schemes ... as a result his bank was forced to close its doors and Morse and Curtis lost control. ... convicted ... on charges of misapplication of bank funds and falsifying the bank's books.
Source: newspapers

5. April 5, 1929 Voluntary Liquidation

Source: historical_nic

Newspaper Articles (4)

1. December 5, 1907 The Daily Sentinel Grand Junction, CO

Article from The Daily Sentinel, December 5, 1907

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Article Text

It is rumored that for several weeks it has been known that the National Bank of Commerce was liable to suspend business. Financial correspondence with that market center, on the part of outside banks having Kansas City paper to collect on, and various other circumstances have indicated that the National Bank of Commerce was having more or less trouble. It is said that the now closed bank had for a long period paid three per cent interest on average daily cash balances, a higher rate of interest, It is said, than paid by any other big general banking institutions on such business, in the country. New York City banks pay from 2 per cent to 2 1/2 per cent, very few paying the latter. Owing to the high rate of interest this bank has been paying in many quarters it has been predicted for a long period that sooner or later the bank would come to grief. Paying such a rate of interest the bank, it seems, could not make legitimate profits, and hence the failure. It is not probable that the failure will affect western banks to any material extent. The banks that will suffer will be those of the Southwest, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Kansas, and of Kansas City, who depended largely on this bank for its money.

2. January 2, 1908 The Rich Hill Tribune Rich Hill, MO

Article from The Rich Hill Tribune, January 2, 1908

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Article Text

FINANCIAL Jan. 21-Merchants' and Farmers' bank of Fairmont, Minn., suspended. Feb. 2-F. D. Gilman, former president suspended Home bank of Goodland, Ind., found guilty of embezzlement. 8-F. D. Gilman, Indiana banker, sentenced to term of one to three years in state prison. $-Disappearance of $173,000 from subtreasury at Chicago made public. Mar. 14-Virtual pante in Wall street; Secretary Cortelyou relieved the situation. 19-Citizens' State bank of Firth, Neb., closed by state. IS-Corbin Banking company of New York, assigned; assets, $3,000,000: Habillties, $1,700,000 Apr. 2-Maj. H. W. Salmon of Warsaw, Mo., convicted of illegal banking. sentexced three years in penitentiary. 11-Bank of Conception, at Clyde, Mo., ordered closed. 19-Ex-Judge Smith of Chicago, found guilty of conspiring to defraud stockholders and depositors of Bank of America. of which he was president; penalty, Imprisonment and $1,000 fine. Jul. 1-Citizens' bank of Eureka Springs, Ark., suspended. &-Fort Dallas National bank of Miami, Fla., closed. 20-Farmers' National bank of Boyertown. Pa., ordered closed. Aug. 3-People's State bank of Brownstown, Ind., closed by state authorities It Receivers appointed for Pope Mfg. Co., of Hartford, Conn.: failure ascribed to stringency of money market. Sep -Watson & Co., members of New York stock and produce exchanges and of Chicago board of trade, failed. Oct. 9-Union bank of Richland, and Bowman bank of Kalamazoo, Mich., both private institutions, closed doors. 16-Collapse of Heinze corner in copper caused violent slump in stocks in New York: firm of Otto Heinze & Co., suspended from stock exchange. I9-New York clearing house committee declared that the Heinre, Morse and Thomas interests had been eliminated from banking organizations of New York. -Knickerbocker Trust Co., New York's second largest financial institution, forced to suspend; great stump In securities: call money at 20 per cent. 23-Secretary of treasury ordered deposit of $15,000,000 of government funds in New York banks. Four Westinghouse companies at Pittsburg and one trust company forced into hands of receivers because of financial stringency State Bank and Trust Co., of Carson, Nevada, falled. 14-Three minor banks in New York forced to close. Bouthern Steel Co., of Birmingham, Ala., filed Involuntary petitlon in bankruptcy. more minor banking institutions In New York closed doors Union Trust Co., of Providence, R. 1., suspended. 26 Banks in New York and Chicago, and many other cities adopted clearing house loan certificate system to prevent draining of supplies of currency and made withdrawal of savings deposits subject to legal notice $9 0-California Safe Deposit & Trust Co. bank. at Ban Francisco, closed Financlal conditions in New York practically normal again. Nov. 4-Three small banks In Kansas closed United States Steel corporation secured controlling interest in Tennessee Coal & Iron Co. -Receiver appointed for Arnold Print works of North Adams, Muss, one of largest textile concerns in country. If-Merchants National bank of Portland, Ore, California bank of Oakland, Cal. and Farmers' & Merchants' bank of Sapulpa, LT, suspended. 15 -Secretary of Treasury Cortelyou ordered Issue of $50,000,000 of Panama bonds and $108,000,000 certificates of indebtedness na means of relieving finandal situation City National bank of Frederick, Okla., failed. IT-American Hilk Co. capital stock, $11,000,000, which operated mills in several cities, placed in hands of receiver Dec. Chelsea Savings abnk of Chelnea. Mich, owned by State Treasurer Glazier, closed. National Bank of Commerce, one of largest financial institutions of Manage CITY, suspended Fort Fill National bank of Pittsburs closed K-Jewelers' National bank at North Attleboro, Mass., in hands of receiver.

3. November 10, 1908 Yorkville Enquirer York, SC

Article from Yorkville Enquirer, November 10, 1908

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Article Text

- Charles W. Morse, until a year ago, a dominant figure in the world of finance, and Alfred H. Curtis, former president of the National Bank of Commerce, New York, were convicted in the criminal branch of the United States circuit court in New York last Thursday, after a trial which continued for several weeks, on charges of misapplication of bank funds and falsifying the bank's books. Morse was prominent in New York as the head of what was known as the "Ice Trust," and also as the head of the Morse steamship lines. He managed to get control of the Bank of Commerce and with Curtis as president, completely under his domination, he was in position to use the funds and standing of the bank to further any schemes that he might wish. He was apparently very successful for a time, but after awhile he got in too deep and as a result his bank was forced to close its doors and Morse and Curtis lost control. Morse is blamed for the beginning of the panic which began last October. On Friday the convicted men were taken before Judge Hough for sentence. Of Curtis he said: "After consideration, which is in accord with my views, together with the position taken by the district attorney, I feel that the ends of justice can be best served by a short prison term on defendant Curtis. I don't believe and the evidencé does not show that Curtis embarked on the illegal transactions with intent to benefit himself. He made his first false step when he became subject to the master mind of his employer. He knew his actions were wrong, but he was unable to break himself of the master hold. His feeble effort at reform met with little consideration at the hands of the supine board of directors. He continued in the illegal path, hoping against hope that the end would come and that the bank would not suffer. He has met total financial ruin through the collapse of the bank. The evidence shows that his personal honesty has not been shaken and I take this opportunity to declare my confidence in him. I think that justice will be well served by sentencing you to five years and suspending the said sentence." Turning to Morse, Judge Hough said: "The evidence showed that you, Morse, fathered an illegal scheme to use the bank and the bank's funds for your own speculative purposes. If by an adequate sentence, repetitions of your crime are not prevented, the public will be entirely at the mercy of any financial institution who cares to act as you did. I sentence you, Morse, to fifteen years in the Federal penitentiary." Morse will probably be sent to the Federal prison at Atlanta, Ga.

4. June 14, 1912 The Detroit Times Detroit, MI

Article from The Detroit Times, June 14, 1912

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Article Text

GOVERNMENT'S MONEY STOPPED PANIC IN 1907 George B. Cortelyou Tells How $25,000,000 Was Loaned To J. P. Morgan NEW YORK, June 13.-Testifying today before the Pujo congressional committee. which is investigating the money trust, George B. Cortelyou, who was secretary of the treasury at the time of the 1907 panic, told how the government loaned J. Pierpont Morgan the $25,000,000 which Morgan in turn loaned to banks and thus broke the panic on Oct. 24, 1907, sending call money down from 125 to 6 per cent. It was the first time that the details of how the treasury came to the rescue of the stock exchange was ever told by an authority as high as the ex-treasurer, and the brokers and spectators who packed the room listened with breathless interest as the real inside story was unfolded. Cortelyou said that he came to New York on Oct. 22, 1907, to investigate conditions, that night held a conference at the Hotel Manhattan with Morgan, Perkins, Vanderlip, Cannon, Hepburn, Stillman and other bankers. He denied that he had told them of his coming, but explained that Hamilton Fish, then sub-treasurer in New York, knew of Cortelyou's intended visit and informed him that the Morgan party would like to confer with him. At that time he obtained from each financier, he said, his views on the situation, but did not make any specific promise of aid from the government. There was no formal conference the next day, Cortelyou asserted, but he believed he talked to Morgan and Perkins again that night. As the result of these conferences, Cortelyou said he decided to advise the government to give relief and recommended that $25,000,000 be loaned for the purpose. The money was deposited with several New York banks the next day: Cortelyou said that Morgan represented no particular bank in the panic conferences, but was the "leading spirit among the business men seeking to relieve the situation. The witness admitted that he knew the $25,000,000 was loaned to New York banks under the direct supervision of Morgan. Asked what banks got the money, Cortelyou said he did not know but thought they were "such banks as the National Bank of Commerce, Hanover National, National City and First National. Job Printing Done Right. Times Printing Co., 15 John R.-st.