The Price of a Blind Eye
A Seattle official rejects a monthly bribe from local gamblers, exposing a deep-seated culture of corruption at City Hall.
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 press of Seattle are unearthing the inside of the gambling deal. The acting mayor says he has been offered $400 a month to allow the games to run. Chief of Police Jackson and other police officials know nothing of gambling in the city. The innocence and ignorance of the average head of the city police departments are well known; they shine as captors of a drunk who cannot run away, but when it comes to detecting crime or catching the perpetrators they are not in it. Place, Seattle; time, four-hundredth year of Columbus; scenes chamber of the delegates. The mayor pro tem is deposed for refusing a bribe of $400 per month from the fraternity known as gamblers—a new mayor pro tem is declared by the house of delegates—the scribes of the tribe of Press-hounds go up to interview him—and for answer he tells them he doesn't know what his policy is or may be as to the gamblers. And the mayor, the genuine-people's-choice mayor, where is he? Oh, he's in Mexico, viewing dog fights, bull fights and other delightsome sports. Reform oh, yes; this is a reform administration.
“The innocence and ignorance of the average head of the city police departments are well known; they shine as captors of a drunk who cannot run away, but when it comes to detecting crime or catching the perpetrators they are not in it.”
City Hall intrigue and bribery allegations have been a staple of Seattle politics for over a century. While the specific gambling interests have shifted from backroom tables to modern legislative debates over sports betting and casinos, the fundamental tension between the 'reform' narrative and the reality of backroom deals remains a constant in local governance.
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