The Scapegoat of Pierce County

We were not surprised, but nevertheless greatly gratified at the result of the investigation by the grand inquest of Pierce County into the charges against Jacob Hoover, in view of the powerful influences, personal, political and local, which were brought to bear against him. It will be remembered that on investigation of the affairs of the Treasurer’s office of Pierce County, at the last term of the district court for that county, the books and accounts of that office were found to be in such inextricable confusion that they were turned over to the bondsmen of the Treasurer for settlement. Immediately after this, it was discovered that a large defamation had occurred in redeeming forged county script; the originals being altered to represent sums far in excess of the amounts for which they were issued. This could not have occurred in innumerable cases but through gross neglect on the part of the officer in charge, as the fraud could have been instantly discovered by comparing the order with the stub. Then it became an imminent necessity for the official to find a scapegoat. Mr. Hoover was the principal dealer in county script and pecuniarily responsible for all his liabilities. His conviction would relieve the Treasurer from criminality and his bondsmen from liabilities to the extent of the forgeries; he had excited the enmity of rivals by his success and incurred the hostility of Tacoma by defeating the project for the removal of the county seat to that place. All of these interests combined against Hoover. Testimony against Mr. Hoover was given through the public prints and industriously circulated through private mediums, that the forged script was all received through him. Under these influences, public sentiment greatly preponderated against Mr. Hoover, and the opinion was largely entertained that he would flee the country to avoid a trial. The action of the grand jury has justified our faith. Upon a full investigation, the conclusion was that the testimony against Mr. Hoover was not sufficient to justify his being put upon trial and the report was: 'Not a true bill.' Thus ends one of the representative cases growing out of a depraved popular sentiment which puts the slanderer and the slandered upon an equal footing.