The Saloonkeeper's Legal Loophole
A Seattle business owner successfully challenged city regulators by arguing that a valid, unexpired license remains binding even after moving to a new storefront.
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.
John Nelson, proprietor of the Great Northern saloon on South Third between Washington and Main streets, was victorious yesterday in the municipal court in the case wherein the city charged him with employing musicians in a saloon. The evidence showed that the proprietors of the saloon took out a license under the old ordinance when in business on Jackson street and the license does not expire until next October. The judge held that the insertion by the city comptroller of the street number at which the saloon was located did not bind the defendant or interfere with him as to his rights under the license if he changed his place of business. Then coming down to the decision of Judge Humes in the case of the city versus John Considene, Judge Glasgow said that the ruling of the superior court applied, that the city had made no provision about returning money to people having licenses, and therefore in the spirit of justice it could not be held that the ordinance, recently passed, applied to people already having licenses.
“The judge held that the insertion by the city comptroller of the street number at which the saloon was located did not bind the defendant.”
This 1894 dispute over municipal licensing and zoning echoes modern struggles in Seattle, where small businesses often find themselves ensnared in rapidly changing city ordinances. It highlights the recurring tension between a city government seeking to regulate behavior and the established rights of property holders.
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