The Bar of King County Condemns the Anti-Chinese Expulsions
Local lawyers and citizens formally denounce the violence of February 1886, defending the rule of law after a mob forced residents out of the city.
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.
Whereas, a large number of evil-disposed persons congregated in the city of Seattle on the morning of Sunday, Feb. 7, 1886, and sought by unlawful means to force the Chinese inhabitants from the city, thereby violating the Constitution, laws, and treaties of the United States. Whereas, at the command of the Sheriff of this county and the Governor of the Territory, the militia and Home Guards turned out and protected the lives and rights of the inhabitants. Resolved, by the Bar of King County, That the unlawful assemblage of the mob in this city on said 7th and 8th days of February was an unparalleled outrage upon the city of Seattle and its law-abiding citizens, and ought to meet the strongest condemnation of every honest, loyal soul residing in it.
“Resolved, That the unlawful assemblage of the mob in this city on said 7th and 8th days of February was an unparalleled outrage.”
This resolution marks a pivotal moment in Seattle history, following the 1886 expulsion of the city's Chinese population. It captures the deep divide between the city's power brokers, who feared economic instability from the riot, and the nativist mobs that fueled the exclusion movement, a struggle that continues to resonate in modern debates over xenophobia and civic order.
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