The Political Hatchet Job That Failed
A Port Townsend city treasurer finds himself the victim of a coordinated, sensationalist smear campaign—only for the local press to walk it back.
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.
The Port-Intelligencer, in its issues of April 6 and 7, published telegraphic dispatches from Port Townsend containing statements concerning City Treasurer Walter Bowen which were derogatory to his character. The reports claimed two bondsmen had applied to be relieved from his bond, that the city council had reduced his salary, and that he was the 'leader of the local Democracy' backed by 'gamblers and prostitutes.' An editor of the Post-Intelligencer visited Port Townsend and found many of these claims to be inaccurate or misleading. While two bondsmen did originally ask to be released—largely due to pressure from a bank manager—one immediately signed a new bond. Furthermore, the salary reduction was a general municipal proposal, not a targeted strike at Mr. Bowen, and the city’s finance committee explicitly stated after an audit that Bowen's books were 'correct and properly kept.' Mr. Bowen bears a good reputation for honesty in Port Townsend, and any statements to the contrary were based upon error.
“The statement that Mr. Bowen has the backing of gamblers and prostitutes is not susceptible of proof. Mr. Bowen is a man of good moral and social standing in the community.”
This 1892 correction reads like a modern retraction of a viral social media rumor or a hit piece. Just as today's local news struggles with the speed of digital misinformation, the 19th-century press dealt with the consequences of telegraphic gossip masquerading as objective reporting in local municipal politics.
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