Tacoma Fights Seattle for Federal Court Seat
Citizens rally to protest President Taft's rumored appointment of a Seattle outsider to the local federal bench.
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.
Tacomans are preparing a vigorous protest against the possible appointment of a Seattle man to the Tacoma federal judgeship by President Taft. A petition is being circulated and largely signed asking the president to appoint a Tacoma man, declaring that to appoint a Seattle man to the federal bench here, when there are plenty of meritorious Tacoma lawyers eligible for the place, would be a slap at the ability of the Tacoma bar and an official affront to the importance of this city. The petition will be forwarded to President Taft and it is hoped to dissuade him from the course he intimated he intends to take in naming some Seattle man for the place in Tacoma. Tacoma wants a resident federal judge and it wants him to be a Tacoma man.
“To appoint a Seattle man to the federal bench here... would be a slap at the ability of the Tacoma bar.”
The historic civic rivalry between Tacoma and Seattle over resources and political representation was a constant feature of early 20th-century life. Today, while the cities share a regional transit and economic sphere, the tension over regional center status remains a recurring theme in Washington politics.
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