The Seattle Republican. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1???-1915, 1902-05-09
SEATTLEDOM


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And now comes Judge Griffin and
decides that the high license law is
unconstitutional, and he nulif1es the
proposition from to q. Judge. Griffin
may be correct in his prognistication
of the law, but The Republican feels
like remarking on this point that Judge
Griffin has rendered more peculiar de-
cisions since he has been Judge of the
superior court of King county than all
of the other judges of King county
put together. If he has not been sys-
tematically advertising himself, then
is would so appear. Every sensational
case and peculiar decision that has
been rendered for the past two years
you will find Judge Grifins name
mixed up in it at some stage of the
game. 1t is rather peculiar that Judge
Griffin should always be so situated as
to get his name in print in connection
with all the sensational cases that bob
up in King County, and yet such is a
fact. He may be a poor newspaper
advertiser from a business standpoint,
but from a sensational standpoint, not
withstanding his affected reticence, he
is bowling success.
There is a daily paper being pub
lished in this city about which a pecu-
liar story is being told just now. Some
time ago the Star made a heavy on
slaught against the Seattle Gas and
Electric Company for dollar gas" and
on the surface it would seem that
the paper was great champion of the
peoples rights; but a story is being
told now to the effect that the paper
refused to touch the proposition until
a number of gas consumers had made
up a Jackpot to pay for every line that
it published in opposition to the gas
company and the advocacy of dollar
gas" Whether there was any truth
in the story or not cannot be verified
just now, as the whole thing is a dead
issue with dollar gas thrown in. A
more recent story is going the rounds
Of the city concerning the Star and
it's championship of the cause of the
common people, and it is to the effect
that before the Star began it's fight for
the city to own it's own electric light
plant, power furnished from Cedar
river, number of petitions were cir
culated among business men asking
for contributions from each of them
for the Star to make the fight and
this was pretty generally done until
it reached a certain firm and the man
p ager of that firm point-plankly refused
to contribute a single cent, and both
the firm and the manager were black
mailed by the Star in every conceiv
able way in it's endeavor to drive them
to terms. So bitter was the fight made
by the Star on the manager of the
firm that he was cartooned in every
conceivable shape and accused of be-
ing a complete tool of the Seattle
Electric Company and almost a bribe-
taker, but it did not drive him to
terms, and yet the public was led to
believe all the time that the manage
ment of the Star was doing what it
was doing on account Of it's great love
for the people, when in fact it was
being paid for every word it published
and absolutely refused to publish any
thing until it had been paid it's money
in advance. 1t begins to look now that
this little daily twinkler is to be the
prince of grating sheets of the North
west, as it has two or three more
things that it's working on out of which
it expects to make quite few dollars
by the grating route, and it's editor
the most pronounced journalistic hypo-
critic in the state.