The Mayor's Private Police Force
A police commissioner resigns after Mayor Ronald demands the dismissal of specific officers to clear the way for his own political appointees.
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.
Yesterday Mayor Ronald received a letter from Police Commissioner Manning: 'As I am a candidate for office before the coming Democratic county convention and desiring not to be placed in such an attitude that anybody can say I am trying to use the patronage of my present office as police commissioner, I hereby tender you my resignation.' By 5 o'clock in the day, the mayor had received recommendations for his replacement. When asked if there was more to the story, the mayor said he wished all city officials who were candidates would resign. Other accounts suggest Manning was outraged by the mayor's demand that Chief Jackson fire Captain Peer and a patrol wagon driver named Moore—a position the mayor reportedly kept open specifically for his own candidate. Manning challenged the mayor on whether the board or the mayor was in charge; the mayor replied, 'as long as I am mayor,' things must be just so.
“Who is running the police department, the board of commissioners or the mayor individually?”
The tension between an independent board of commissioners and a mayor seeking to consolidate patronage remains a classic Seattle power struggle. The 1892 friction over 'who is running the department' mirrors the long-standing debate over the power of the Mayor vs. the Chief of Police and the City Council in Seattle today.
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