City Officials Cover for Strikebreaking Police
A secret reversal of policy allows the Fire and Police Commission to hide the identities of special officers hired by the Sumner Iron Works.
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.
Do you remember a few months ago the exposure made by the Journal of the handy method in vogue in granting special police authority to strikebreakers employed at the Sumner plant? An effort was made at that time to have an ordinance passed providing that special commissions should not be issued without the full knowledge and consent of the city council. The fire and police commission passed a motion to the effect that the names of all persons granted special police commissions should be posted on the bulletin board at police headquarters. The commission made a big noise when it passed that motion. Late investigation failed to find the names posted. A little further delving disclosed the fact that the fire and police commission had its fingers crossed; the motion was rescinded quietly for the benefit of the Sumner Iron Works. Several of said strikebreaking employees are in possession of special police authority, including Albert Crib, C. W. McInnis, C. Riggs, P. A. W. Smith, Albert Lehman, and William Fraser.
“The fire and police commission is composed of astute gentlemen. They have amply demonstrated that one can eat his cake and have it, too.”
This 1911 dispute over the weaponization of private security by local industry echoes modern debates regarding corporate policing and the lack of transparency in public-private partnerships. The friction between municipal authority and industrial influence remains a recurring theme in the labor history of the Pacific Northwest.
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