The Price of a 'Pull' in Seattle's Police Force
Seven officers were fired to make room for the mayor's favorites, sparking outrage over political patronage.
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.
Today seven of the nine policemen who were dropped from the force at the last meeting of the police commissioners will cease to wear the star and brass buttons. They are B. D. Fabyan, A. Townsend, Phil Sullivan, James Foster, P. Caswell, O. Hall and B. Lufkin. W. A. Johnson and Thomas Toltin, the other two officers who were also deposed in the name of retrenchment, will, for the present, be retained as special policemen. It is evident the mayor and police commissioners have peculiar ideas of retrenchment. P. Caswell, night driver of the patrol wagon, is recognized to be one of the best handlers of horses in the city of Seattle. He is a natural horse trainer, as the splendid manner in which he has educated the patrol horse plainly indicates. He didn't have a 'pull,' however, and so he must go in order to make room for one of the mayor's favorites. His place must be filled, and the moment he steps out another man steps in. Caswell had been employed as a driver in the fire department, but he relinquished his position to accept the one from which he is now forced to resign without even the shadow of a charge being preferred against him.
“He didn't have a 'pull,' however, and so he must go in order to make room for one of the mayor's favorites.”
Political patronage—the 'pull' mentioned here—has been a recurring shadow over Seattle civic governance for over a century. While the civil service system was designed to protect competent workers like P. Caswell from such arbitrary firings, debates over departmental appointments and political influence remain a constant in city politics today.
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