The Price of a 'Wide Open' Town
A citizen accuses the County Attorney of enabling a graft scheme that granted a single operator a lucrative monopoly on slot machines while allegedly shaking down other business owners.
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.
According to a statement made by C. R. Miller of South Tacoma, County Attorney Campbell has established a censorship in his office, reserving the right to refuse sworn complaints against certain offenders. Miller attempted to file a complaint against P. H. Haldie for operating slot machines in Tacoma. While the County Attorney initially accepted the evidence, he later refused to serve the warrants, leading to allegations of graft. Evidence provided by B. L. Mead suggests that city officials were charging machine operators $50 a month in 'fines,' a system that Haldie controlled to the exclusion of others. Local business owners and citizens describe a system where the mayor and police chief reportedly sanctioned the protection racket, leaving many wondering why the law was applied so selectively.
“The mayor says, 'I don't give a damn for a message from the county attorney or anybody else. He does not run my office.'”
This 1904 report on 'slot machine graft' in Tacoma reveals the historical intersection of illicit revenue and city administration. The tension between a 'wide open' city policy and the selective application of law by local officials continues to be a central theme in urban political debates over governance and accountability.
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