The Bonfire of the Vanities on Occidental Square

It is now a little more than seven months since the people of Seattle decided to take charge of the municipal government. The Council, which was immediately and heartily condemned by a majority, appeared to be the target of local politics. The principal charge made against its members was that they had attacked the financial interest of the city and hampered its prosperity by closing the saloons on Sunday. This was a heinous offense in the eyes of the people. While there were a few who were disposed to regard it as a mitigating circumstance that the Councilmen were simply making an effort to enforce a territorial law, the majority considered such an excuse flimsy and inefficient, and expressed their condemnation by their ballots.

You doubtless remember—for it is not so long ago that you could forget—the glory of your victory. You remember the unbounded delight of the people. You remember the parades, the speeches, the cheers of joy. You remember the bonfire on Occidental Square. As the flames curled and writhed and sprang heavenward, you almost persuaded yourselves that you had lighted anew the altar fires of liberty. As the smoke curled lazily upward and hung above the city, you almost persuaded yourselves that the spirit of oppression which had been hovering over our city was spreading its dark wings across the sky, preparing for a long flight, exorcised by you.

Months have passed since that memorable night. Your term of office has more than half expired. You may ask yourselves now whether you have kept the altar fires burning, whether that prophecy has been fulfilled, whether your cheers in truth announced our entrance upon a new Golden Age. You may ask whether the city is in a better condition today than it was a year ago. You may ask whether your prompt reversal of the policy of your predecessors has been followed by the blessings which you so confidently anticipated.

But, on the other hand, can you complain if the same standard of judgment is applied to you which you applied to your predecessors? You know that you held the Council directly responsible for the condition of the city a year ago. You know that its members were attacked in every conceivable way. Suppose, now, you were judged by the same standard. Suppose that you were held responsible for the condition of the city—immense expenditure, bloodshed, martial law and all.