Tacoma Breaks the Grip of 'Blood Money'
The city council votes to seize absolute control over saloon licensing to stop property owners from extorting payments.
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 city council tonight removed the necessity of having a majority of the property owners on a block to authorize the granting of a saloon license. The council assumes absolute jurisdiction in the granting of saloon licenses and will grant them where it deems advisable regardless of the wishes of property owners. This change was made on the ground that too much 'blood money' has been exacted from saloons by property owners in order to secure a majority in favor of licenses.
“The council assumes absolute jurisdiction in the granting of saloon licenses and will grant them where it deems advisable regardless of the wishes of property owners.”
Early Seattle and Tacoma grappled with 'nuisance' regulations where property owners held veto power over neighbor businesses. Today, this mirrors ongoing debates over who gets to dictate the 'character' of a neighborhood in the face of rapid urban change.
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