The County Surveyor’s 'Sweating' Scheme
King County Surveyor F.F. Ames faced official charges for systematically stealing a portion of his employees' wages.
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.
King County Surveyor F.F. Ames has been charged with forcing the men in his office to return a large proportion of their wages by demanding them after their monthly pay from the county. The board of county commissioners, confronted with the facts, directed the prosecuting attorney to take steps to remove Ames from office and proceed with legal action to force him to return the stolen money to the county. It was revealed that Ames required his subordinates to sign pay-roll forms certifying they were receiving a higher wage, then demanded a kickback. Even the chainmen and axemen of the field corps, who received only $2.50 per day, were required to pay 10 percent of their wages to the man who gave them work at the county's expense.
“Surveyor Ames is said to have worked the same rule with every employe of the office... If they did not wish to pay this tribute they were told their services were no longer needed.”
Public corruption in Seattle has a long history, but the 'sweating' of employees—where a supervisor profits from the underpaid labor of his own staff—highlights the pre-union realities of the 1890s. The struggle for honest procurement and wage protection was a foundational civic battle that paved the way for modern municipal oversight.
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