The Price of a Franchise: Seattle's Streetcar Bribery Scandal
A witness testifies that $2,000 was offered to 'stand in' with the company, exposing the grimy underside of Seattle's early transportation expansion.
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.
In the ongoing inquiry regarding the North Street Railroad matter in Seattle, testimony surfaced regarding alleged bribery. A witness testified that a company representative suggested that if he would 'stand in' with them, he would be paid two thousand dollars. The witness claimed that he was approached by a man representing the interests of the streetcar company, who asked him to influence other jurors and stated that if he got the other jurors to 'stand in' with him, he would receive a share of the money. The testimony also noted that the streetcar company had been pressuring officials to secure favorable terms for their line expansions through the city. The witness, when questioned under oath, stated that the promise of payment was intended to sway the outcome of pending municipal decisions.
“If he would 'stand in' with them, he would be paid two thousand dollars.”
This 1887 report on streetcar bribery illustrates how Seattle's infrastructure was built on a bedrock of corporate lobbying and political back-scratching. Today's debates over transit expansion, public-private partnerships, and developer influence in City Hall echo these same historic anxieties about who truly controls the city's growth.
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