City Hall Scandal and the 'Kid's' Crusade
A contentious legal battle over an embezzling city treasurer pulls the Mayor into the line of fire.
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 desire of L. D. Ross and the other 'Kids' to get a whack at Mayor Ronald was made very evident in the Ross hearing yesterday. Mr. John Hart, defending Mr. Ross, devoted most of his time to investigating the connection of others than his client with the Krug defalcation. In the afternoon, the cross-examination of Deputy Treasurer J. J. Knoff revealed that Mayor Ronald had drawn his salary in advance by simply leaving an IOU in the drawer. Alderman N. M. Daulton identified notes and checks found in the vault of City Treasurer Krug, including one note: 'Dear Krug: Harry White requests hold this for thirty days... Enclose check $110, which Abrahams paid on note, and balance I agreed to carry for thirty days.' When Mayor Ronald took the stand, he testified regarding Krug's disappearance but faced pointed, aggressive questions from the defense attorney, Mr. Hart, who implied that the Mayor and other city officers were equally culpable in the financial mismanagement.
“Did I understand by that that you intend later on to arrest Ronald, too?”
Public suspicion of City Hall 'deals' and the blurring of personal and public funds have been a feature of Seattle politics since its inception. This 1893 scandal highlights the high-stakes, hyper-partisan nature of early city governance that continues to shape distrust in local institutions today.
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