The Ex-Dog Catcher Who Turned a Liquor License Into a Shakedown
E. W. Bates was bound over for extortion after prosecutors said he threatened to have a man arrested for selling liquor without a license unless he paid up.
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.
Ex-Dog Catcher E. W. Bates waived a preliminary examination before Justice Caldwell yesterday morning and was bound over to the superior court for trial in $500 bonds, which were furnished by A. H. King. The state discovered yesterday that it might be hard work to convict Bates of obtaining money under false pretenses, so changed the charge to extortion. The complaint was in substance as follows:
“That E. W. Bates, on June 15, with intent to extort money from S. G. Parker, unlawfully and maliciously did verbally threaten an injury to Parker in that he threatened to arrest or to procure the arrest of Parker by process of a warrant upon the charge of selling liquor without a license, and by reason thereof, and for the purpose of inducing Bates not to carry his threat into execution, Parker did pay and deliver to Bates $25, contrary to the form of the statute.”
License Collector Taylor, George Carr and S. G. Parker are the state’s witnesses.
“He threatened to arrest or to procure the arrest of Parker by process of a warrant upon the charge of selling liquor without a license.”
Petty officials using licensing threats to extract cash is an old story; today it would be called abuse of office or extortion under color of authority. The case also shows how liquor enforcement in 1890s Seattle created opportunities for shakedowns.
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