Seattle Mayor and Police Chief Indicted for Bribery
Mayor Hiram C. Gill and former Sheriff R.T. Hodge face charges for an alleged conspiracy to violate federal liquor laws.
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Seattle—Indictments against Mayor Hiram C. Gill, Chief of Police C. L. Beckingham, and former Sheriff R. T. Hodge, charging conspiracy to violate the interstate commerce and federal liquor laws, and acceptance of bribes, were returned Saturday by the United States grand jury. Warrants were placed in the hands of deputy marshals for the arrest of these defendants and 10 others. The others indicted include four city detectives, a former policeman, Edward P. Baker, manager of the Jesse Moore Hunt company of San Francisco, Logan and Fred Billingsley, and two associates of the Billingsleys. As soon as they learned of the indictments, Gill, Beckingham, and Detectives Peyster, Doom, and McLennan went to the federal building and gave $3,500 bail each. Ex-Sheriff Hodge and the others arranged bonds.
“Indictments against Mayor Hiram C. Gill... charging conspiracy to violate the interstate commerce and federal liquor laws, and acceptance of bribes.”
Mayor Gill’s political career was famously volatile, marked by his 1911 recall and subsequent re-election. This indictment highlights the deep-seated tensions between local municipal authority and federal prohibition-era liquor enforcement that defined Seattle politics in the early 20th century.
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