Political Corruption and Fiscal Crisis in Whatcom
Following a massive embezzlement scandal, the City of Whatcom's council scrambles to stabilize finances and track down missing public funds.
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.
Ex-Clerk and Marshal McIntosh, for whose arrest on charges of embezzlement a warrant has been issued, wires his attorneys from Oakland, California, that he has heard of the complaint and 'will take the next train home.' The citizens' bond of $130,000 to replevin the property transferred by ex-Treasurer Isensee to his bondsmen has been completed. At the meeting of the city council last evening, the city attorney was directed to prepare an ordinance making general fund warrants legal tender for the payment of city taxes. W. Christman, the accountant who was employed to examine the books of the various city offices, has been appointed city auditor and deputy clerk. The receivers of the Puget Sound Loan, Trust and Banking Company and the Columbia National Bank have informed the finance committee that the defaulting treasurer never had any money in those institutions to the credit of the city of Whatcom.
“The defaulting treasurer never had any money in those institutions to the credit of the city of Whatcom.”
Whatcom's 1893 fiscal scandal, characterized by missing public funds and institutional distrust, mirrors the recurring civic struggles for accountability in municipal government. It serves as a reminder of how quickly public trust evaporates when transparency fails.
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