The Unlikely Candidate: A Call for Judge Hanford
With a federal vacancy looming and political hopefuls stalling, the Seattle bar turns to a man who isn't even running.
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.
It is fairly evident that none of the gentlemen who have been discussed as candidates for the vacant circuit judgeship will be able to secure the position. The long delay of the president in submitting a nomination to the Senate indicates that he does not expect to choose any one of those who have been actively in the race. It has been suggested, therefore, that District Judge C. H. Hanford be urged for the place. Judge Hanford has shown himself to be more than worthy of this high position. The bar of the state is a unit in praise of the fairness and soundness of his rulings as district judge. His integrity, his ability as a lawyer and as a judge, his natural qualification for judicial position, are above question. His appointment would not only be an honor to the state, but would be a source of profound satisfaction to the people and the bar of Washington. It is not understood that Judge Hanford is in any sense a candidate for this position, but if the president should see fit to offer it to him, the choice would be universally commended as a most happy one.
“The bar of the state is a unit in praise of the fairness and soundness of his rulings as district judge.”
The struggle over federal judicial appointments remains a perennial theme in American politics, reflecting the same tension between party-loyalist hopefuls and the desire for non-partisan, integrity-driven appointments that Seattle experienced in 1892. C.H. Hanford would eventually become a significant, albeit controversial, figure in Washington's legal history.
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