The Scandal of Chief Woolery
A scathing 1885 editorial accuses Seattle's Chief of Police of protecting gambling dens and brothels while posing as a moral martyr.
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.
A year ago, the murmur of the people was that Jim Woolery was a martyr, a man who was torn and tormented because he produced evidence of crime against the judge, the jury, or some other official. He secured the people's favor by promising to show he was a man who would not shirk his duty. The good people re-elected him with orders to arrest all offenders of the law, irrespective of race, rank, condition, or business. But he has done nothing for the welfare of society. He has worked for the interests of the saloon keeper, the gambler, and the courtesan. The police are aware that gambling dens operate openly, and that men and women of ill-repute ply their business in houses of infamy throughout the day and night. Mr. Woolery himself has been seen standing at the gaming tables in his uniform, with his star upon his breast, chatting pleasantly with violators of the law. If any person doubts this, let any honest citizen take him by the hand and lead him into the saloons that operate without a license, or down on Washington street, where the sirens of some of Seattle's women of infamy are heard at all hours. Mr. Woolery is not the man the city wants for Chief of Police any longer.
“He has not only done nothing for the welfare of society, but he has done worse than nothing: for he has worked for the interest of the saloon keeper, the gambler and the courtesan.”
This 1885 editorial highlights a classic American political struggle: the tension between civic leadership and the 'vice' economies that often operate in the shadows of rapidly growing cities. While the specific grievances about gambling and police corruption in Old Seattle feel like a relic, the debate over how law enforcement ignores or enables illicit activity to maintain political stability continues to echo in modern civic discourse.
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