A Political Slap in the Face
Seattle Democrats are reeling after President Cleveland bypassed local favorites to appoint a 'Skagit man' as land office register.
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 announcement that Captain W. D. O'Toole had been appointed register of the land office in Seattle, although not officially confirmed, seems to be true. The local Democrats are silent, but deeply mortified that the administration ignored their wishes to appoint Robert L. Thorne or ex-Judge S. S. Carlisle. A. G. Heifner, chairman of the city central committee, called the appointment an outrage, stating, 'If such appointments can be made with impunity the Democracy of King county becomes a mere cipher.' O'Toole, a retired army officer, previously spent time in Seattle before moving to Skagit County, where he became active in politics. Locals suspect his appointment was the result of a 'deal' made by outsiders.
“If such appointments can be made with impunity the Democracy of King county becomes a mere cipher.”
This story highlights the perennial tension between local grassroots political desires and the influence of distant, national party power brokers—a dynamic still very much alive in municipal politics today.
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