Seattle's Gamblers Tried to Oust the Police Chief—and Failed Spectacularly
A behind-the-scenes scheme to replace Chief Jackson unraveled when the mayor and commissioners turned on the acting mayor, leaving gamblers from Tacoma with nothing but regrets.
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 combination of gamblers and 'kids' which has been trying for Chief Jackson's scalp was thoroughly demoralized yesterday. Its grand scheme had culminated in a total failure and Acting Mayor Miller had been rebuked by the commissioners. For weeks the members of the combine had been waiting for the decapitation, relying upon oft-repeated promises.
So confident were they of success that word was sent to Tacoma for the gamblers to come over and be in at the grand opening. Some of the Tacomans, it is said, packed their trunks and came. They did not have the prescience to realize that the outraged sentiment of the community would force the returning mayor, all feelings of honest indignation on the part of that official being left out of the question, to join hands with those of the commissioners who had half their fill of jobbing tactics, to rebuke the acting mayor and restore Chief Jackson.
The Tacoma sports spent the day in looking over the city, cursing their luck and condoling their baffled brethren, whom they advised to never again count their chickens before they had left the eggs. Some of the level-headed sports looked at the matter philosophically, declaring that the fight had been made, lost and consequently gambling was a thing of the past in Seattle. One or two were even of the opinion that no more attempts would be made to remove Chief Jackson, but others who were either seeking notoriety or trying to create an impression, said that A. O. Lane, who not long ago looked up the matter of bonds required of the chief, would be appointed in a few days. By what means this was to be accomplished did not appear, but the impression was that the mighty combination of 'jobbers' and wire pullers, backed by the 'kid committee,' would do the work.
The king-pin of the gambling fraternity last night summed up the situation by saying that the next time votes were delivered the quid pro quo would be assured—promises were too much like pie crust and not always easy of fulfillment.
Ex-Acting Mayor Miller declines to say what he will do tonight, but it is supposed he will attempt to justify his course by bringing some puerile charge against Chief Jackson, the chief of which, as he intimated on Saturday, is that he, Miller, 'is tired of being slapped in the face.'
“The king-pin of the gambling fraternity last night summed up the situation by saying that the next time votes were delivered the quid pro quo would be assured—promises were too much like pie crust and not always easy of fulfillment.”
This 1893 episode shows that fights over police independence and vice enforcement are as old as Seattle itself. Then, as now, gambling interests tried to influence city hall, but public outcry and political maneuvering foiled the plan. The story echoes modern debates over police accountability and the influence of money in local politics.
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