City Hall's Shameless Newspaper Scheme
Seattle's Board of Aldermen accused of violating the city charter by awarding a lucrative official contract to the Telegraph.
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 board of aldermen last night on a secret ballot voted by a bare majority to designate the Telegraph as 'city official newspaper' in direct violation of the city charter. A more shameless fraud than this has never been perpetrated upon the people of Seattle, and yet there is probably more to come. Unless indications fail, the next act in the drama of graft will be to designate the Herald as 'second official newspaper.' If it is right to select the Telegraph first because its bid is the highest, it is certainly right to select the firm whose bid was the next highest. All that is now needed to consummate this brilliant scheme is one vote. That this vote will be forthcoming few will doubt who are at all familiar with the temper and resources of the chief manipulators. If it were not for the gravity of the offense that is likely to be perpetrated against the interests of the city, the whole matter would not be without its amusing side. Boss Tweed in his palmiest days never devised a more shameless job, and he certainly never could have acted with a more utter disregard of the law.
“Boss Tweed in his palmiest days never devised a more shameless job.”
Accusations of 'graft' and backroom deals over municipal contracts are a persistent thread in Seattle politics, echoing the city's long history of power struggles over public resources. Today’s battles over city-funded initiatives often mirror these 1890s complaints about the lack of transparency in how taxpayer money is funneled to favored entities.
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