Bribery Scandal in the Fire Department
Mayor J. T. Ronald accuses Fire Commissioner James Foster of taking bribes to influence personnel appointments.
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.
To James Foster, one of the Fire Commissioners of the City of Seattle: You are hereby notified that I do hereby suspend James Foster from the office of commissioner of the city of Seattle for the following causes: First, that the said James Foster did at Seattle, Wash., on the 1st day of March, 1891, accept and receive from one Oswald Vitzthum the sum of one hundred and fifty dollars to induce him to appoint said Vitzthum to the office of engineer in the Seattle fire department. Second, that he accepted a promissory note for one hundred and fifty dollars for further influence in promoting Vitzthum. Third, that on April 7, 1892, he accepted another one hundred dollars for retaining the said Oswald Vitzthum in his position. Mayor J. T. Ronald will present these charges against the suspended officer to the city council.
“The said James Foster, being such fire commissioner, did... accept and receive... one hundred and fifty dollars to him offered for the purpose of inducing and influencing the said James Foster to appoint said Oswald Vitzthum.”
Corruption in municipal appointments was a common feature of Gilded Age city politics, and this case highlights the high-stakes battle for control over early city departments.
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