The Bribe That Killed the Telephone Franchise
A Tacoma councilman reveals a $132,000 bribery attempt, blowing up a major deal to challenge the local telephone monopoly.
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.
Councilman J. J. Conrad brought a sworn affidavit to the Tacoma city council meeting alleging that Frank Mortimer, representing the Independent Telephone company, offered him $132,000 in stock to support a pending franchise agreement. Conrad claimed Mortimer approached him at 913 Commerce Street on July 18, 1904, first suggesting the stock as a favor, and later offering to convert the shares to cash. Confronted with the affidavit by Councilman Bellingham, the council erupted in debate. Several members attempted to suppress an investigation, but Chairman Roice eventually appointed a committee to probe the bribery charges. The final vote on the franchise was defeated.
“There have been altogether too many hints thrown out. If there is a coon in the woodpile, let us smoke him out.”
This 1904 bribery scandal mirrors the long-standing tension between municipal infrastructure, private monopolies, and the influence of 'dark money' in local politics. Even a century later, Tacoma remains deeply invested in debates over public versus private control of essential utilities and the transparency of city contracts.
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