The Editor Who Stole the Public Warrants
The editor of Port Townsend's 'Morning Leader' was arrested for forging and cashing county warrants after a grand jury investigation.
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.
N. W. O'Rear, editor of the Morning Leader, the custom house organ in Port Townsend, was arrested today upon an indictment returned by the grand jury for forgery. Another indictment for a similar offense was returned against C. M. Sweeney. For several years, O'Rear was a deputy in the auditor's office where he had access to county warrants. According to Sweeney's confession, O'Rear stole several hundred dollars worth of warrants and forged indorsements. One count charges him with forging the name of Alice Carpenter of Seattle to a witness warrant for $2.10. O'Rear came from Wichita, Kansas, five years ago. Last winter he was chief journal clerk of the house of representatives at Olympia, where changes mysteriously crept into important bills he had access to.
“The grand jury report censures the other county officers for imperfect bookkeeping whereby such criminal rascality could be committed.”
Political corruption in territorial and early state government was frequently tied to the control of local newspapers, which functioned as party 'organs.' This story illustrates the era's lack of oversight, where public officials could easily exploit systemic weaknesses to embezzle public funds.
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