The City Hall Crackdown on Variety Theaters
A municipal judge enforces a new ordinance targeting variety theaters serving alcohol, sparking a legal battle over the city's power to revoke business licenses.
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 municipal court yesterday handed down a ruling in the case of the city of Seattle against J.J. Clark and John W. Considine, charged with conducting a theater in which intoxicating liquors were sold. The defendants were found guilty and fined $10 each. Through their counsel, they gave immediate notice of appeal and requested a temporary restraining order to enjoin Chief of Police Rogers from closing the People's Theater. The city contended it had the power to regulate theaters and ensure they were not conducted in conjunction with or adjoining a saloon in the interest of public morality. The defense argued that the ordinance was unconstitutional, as it contained no provision to revoke licenses already granted, and that the city had no authority to prohibit a business it had previously licensed.
“The city has power under the grant given it by the legislature and by virtue of the charter to further regulate and restrain theaters... in the interest of public morality.”
This 1890s clash highlights the enduring struggle between Seattle's civic leaders and the city's nightlife entrepreneurs. Just as the city then used zoning and licensing to police 'public morality,' modern Seattle continues to grapple with how to regulate nightlife districts while balancing the rights of business owners against community standards.
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