The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1890-12-24
WITHOUT MITIGATION.

As investigation more fully reveals the
| facts and circumstances attending the sur
render by the corporation counsel of the
| interests of the city in the railroad
right-of-way case, the more excuseless and
shameless that proceeding is shown to
have been. Mr.. Shepard Gate city at
torney) who was associated with the cor
poration counsel in the argument
of the case, declared yesterday that
he had "ncrcr Enosrn quite 50 outrageous and
unjustifGblc an abandonment Of clients
cause" This, positive and severe as it is,
is none too severe. The thing was idiotic
and culpable to the last degree.
It is not to be supposed that If Judge
Jacobs had been in his sober senses he
would have been guilty of this outrageous
act. He is not a man to "sell out" his
clients cause; but he has a pitiful weak
ness, and this weakness, artfuIly and scan
dnlously played upon, appears to have
been the cause of his fatal act. It
is hard to say it of an
old man, man of distinguished and
honorable past, and man whose motives
under ordinary circumstances are upright
in every way-but it is the truth and must
be stated, that Judge Jacobs was under the
influence of liquor, so much so that pre-
sumably he did not realize the nature and
consequences of what he was doing. There
is but one thing left for him to do, and
that is to resign his Office.
Not the least culpable in this miserable
transaction appears the conduct of the
companies and of their agents. At least,
these gentlemen must have known that
Judge Jacobs was not in the possession of
his sober senses. To accept from him
while he was not in condition of mental
responsibility such concession as that
made in the stipulation to permit him
to surrender his clients cause and
to discredit himself was, to put
it very mildly, most ungenerous.
1t was thing which most men who
value their self-respect and the respect
of others would not have done. The
estimate which these gentlemen put
upon the concession of the corporation
counsel is shown by their conduct
following. They did not proceed
in the timely and orderly way
| of those secure in the possession of Just and
legal rights; but attempted in the quiet of
night, under the cover of darkness, in con-
tempt of the law and in open defiance of
its agents, to clinch an advantage artfully
| gained.
There has been too much of this ''bull-
DOING" on the part of railroad companies
in Seattle. Within the past eighteen
| months there have been no less than half
| dozen forcible and lawless trans
actions similar to that of Monday night,
along our city front. Open and brutal
fights for possession of property have be-
come familiar things. The time has come
for this sort of thing to cease Too long
Seattle has been scandalized and outraged
by lawless and defiant proct edings. At
last public indignation has been aroused
and it viii not longer be trifled with.
| The city government did exactly the
right thing yesterday. 1t destroyed the
obstruction put across Columbia street,
and has taken steps to undo if possible the
wrong perpetrated the day previous.
There surely ought to be some way to
retract a proceeding so outrageous and so
obviously culpable.