The Seattle Bar Confronts Its Own
A committee of influential attorneys seeks to disbar colleagues Junius Rochester and George Venable Smith for their roles in the violent expulsion of Seattle's Chinese population.
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At the convening of Court yesterday, Mr. Haller stated that a committee of eight influential members of the bar had been appointed to investigate charges against certain members arising from their connection with the unlawful and forcible expulsion of the Chinese. The committee reported they found sufficient evidence to warrant the removal or suspension of George Venable Smith and Junius Rochester. Mr. Metcalfe requested to be excused from the committee, noting he had acted as attorney for the accused in the past and expected to be retained in their behalf in the future. The Judge ordered that the motions be filed as complaints and served on the adverse parties. The motions detail inflammatory, incendiary, and seditious addresses made by Smith and Rochester at public meetings, inciting the unlawful expulsion of more than two hundred Chinese residents of King County, and their direct participation in the violent forced entry of Chinese homes.
“It is not a pleasant duty to prefer charges against fellow members of the Bar, but that they had been assigned that task, and they felt that they must perform their duty.”
This rare moment of professional accountability highlights the deep rift in 1886 Seattle, where some members of the establishment sought to restore the rule of law after the anti-Chinese riots. Today, it serves as a sobering reminder of the institutional complicity that defined the era's exclusionist policies.
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