The Mayor's Veto of Arbitrary Police Power
Mayor Ronald strikes down a vehicle regulation ordinance, arguing that delegating absolute control to police officers oversteps the law.
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.
Mayor Ronald yesterday returned to the city clerk a message for the council in which he scores an ordinance regulating vehicles. The veto states: 'The objects aimed at by the ordinance are good, but the means for attaining those objects are illegal.' The Mayor notes that the ordinance would allow police officers to act as judge and jury over drivers. 'Section 5 confers upon a police officer more arbitrary powers than the czar of Russia can exercise in his own dominions... It makes no difference whether or not such order of the police officer is reasonable or arbitrary or whether as a matter of fact the driver is violating any provisions. He must obey the order of the police officer or he will be punished.'
“Section 5 confers upon a police officer more arbitrary powers than the czar of Russia can exercise in his own dominions.”
Mayor Ronald's 1893 veto reflects a classic Seattle debate about the balance between urban order and the civil liberties of the working class. His skepticism toward 'arbitrary power' vested in police officers mirrors the modern, ongoing civic conversation regarding police accountability and ordinance enforcement in the city.
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