The Licensing Dispute on Madison Street
A fiery editorial challenge to city officials regarding the selective enforcement of business and liquor licenses in 1885 Seattle.
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.
Why do the city officials refuse the petition of Mr. W. J. Finn to start a saloon in that business? Is there any law in that town to say that they deny a saloon in the settled parts? And why does the Mr. Finn start a saloon without license? What makes them, in that, to endure one kind of traffic and say a man must be required to do so in another? If Mr. Finn should want to start a grocery or a dry goods store or almost any other branch of merchandise or industry in the business part, would there be any objection? People of such trades are welcomed. Why, then, do the officials of the city of Seattle object to Mr. Finn? Don't such acts show that the objections are envious, sure and simple? Don't they know that saloons make money? Don't they know that saloons and houses of prostitution are the cornerstones of Seattle's prosperity? Don't they understand that plenty of saloons mean business for constables, lawyers, collectors, and the courts? Don't they know that our city has been so well led under the administration of our great City Council, who disregarded the threats and good influence of the taxpayers and liquor dealers, and will listen to what the brassy and bullying tell them?
“Don't they know that saloons and houses of prostitution are the cornerstones of Seattle’s prosperity?”
This 1885 editorial highlights the historic tension between Seattle’s civic leaders and the informal economy of the waterfront. The author’s cynical observation that 'saloons and houses of prostitution are the cornerstones of Seattle’s prosperity' echoes today’s debates about which businesses are permitted to thrive versus those that are marginalized by modern zoning and licensing regulations.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.