The Beer Boycott Battle in Seattle
When a labor union tried to weaponize Sunday-closing laws against a hotel manager, the prosecutor smelled a rat.
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.
In Seattle, charging him with the selling of liquor on Sunday, three members of the Central Labor Union, representing themselves as a committee from that organization, have asked to have Manager William King of the New Butler hotel arrested. This demand has been refused for the reason that Prosecuting Attorney Scott believes that the prosecution is malicious. Mr. Scott listened to the grievance and stated that he felt certain that all the saloons of Seattle were violating the Sunday closing ordinance, but that it would not do for him to make fish of one and flesh of another. It is said that the action of the Central Labor Union was for the purpose of making Manager King bend in matters relating to the strike. It was believed that the Seattle Brewing Company would soon give Manager King the tip to settle amicably when this prosecution was announced. If the matter did not work smoothly from the start, it was the intention to prosecute all of the saloonkeepers handling Seattle Brewing Company beer.
“Prosecuting Attorney Scott stated that he felt certain that all the saloons of Seattle were violating the Sunday closing ordinance, but that it would not do for him to make fish of one and flesh of another.”
This 1904 dispute shows how labor unions and business owners used civic ordinances as proxies for broader power struggles. It mirrors modern debates where political levers are pulled to exert economic pressure, revealing that the weaponization of the law in labor disputes is a century-old tradition in the Pacific Northwest.
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