Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1916-02-25

/ cdrb. and Mr.. hoffman said that va;
his recollection.
Neither Mr.. hoffman nor Mr.. Nc
/ Clintic knew at that time that | had
been arrested. and this was the state
1 ment that l made TO Justice Crosby.
Justice Crosby asked if Mayor Mott
man or Mr. McClintic had told me
before | was arrested that l could
! rark on this street and my answer
was no, that all the conversation
had with Mayor hoffman and Mr..
McClntic was after l had been ar
rested, and the reason | used this
statement before Justice Crosby was
to show that the general belief of all
automobile owners, also the mayor
and councilman who was chairman of
the committee that drafted the ordi-
nance, was that it was parking place
and that the only change in this ordi-
nance No. 400, which had been
enacted about six weeks previously,
was that the place of parking had
been changed from the center of the
street to the curb, which was done at
the request of the garages on this
street.
There was no evidence at the hear
ing that Mayor hoffman or Mr.. Nc
Clintic had given any permission to
park on this street and there is not
particle of evidence in this case to
warrant your paper in trying to con-
vey this impression to the public.
And now few words on the unfair
and unjust discrimination made by
our police department in enforcing
the ordinances governing the traffic
on our streets as between automo-
biles and horse drawn vehicles. Very
few drivers Of automobiles but what
have paid fines for exceeding speed
limits, standing cars without lights,
or passing standing street cars, and
yet cannot recall a single instance
when the driver of horse drawn We
hicles has been arrested, and any day
these vehicles may be seen crossing
the street in the middle of the block,
driving on the wrong side of the
street, cutting corners, passing stand.
ing street cars, leaving teams stand
ing without being hitched.
A short time ago team ran away
and collided with a street car, and
the evidence was that the team had
been left without being hitched.
Numerous other ordinances are
being violated, such as the cleaning
of sidewalks, the expectorating upon
sidewalks, the use of profane and
other Objectionable language, nand
numerous others.
do not believe in every instance
Of a violation Of these ordinances that
the offender should be arrested. Judg-
ment should always be used, ard to
enforce every ordinance to the letter
would In short time make them
seem ridiculous, and / believe that
the same judgment should be used
in dealing with the automobile.
For instance, an automobile stands
In front of the Ray theater, the bright
light Of the theater shines both in
front and behind the automobile and
there 10 no more danger to the public
II the lights are OF than there would
be II they are on. You must remem.
Der that 1t costs money to keep lights
burning for hours when q car 10
standing still. It means the recharg.
ing Of storage batteries, besides the
loss Of the use of the car during the
charging process, and under these
circumstances why arrest this owner
and cause him expense and humilia.
ton?
Again, recently business man
drove his car in front of the Elks'
club at s p. m, still light, went into
the club and came out at about z p.
M, now dark. A snow bank lay be.
tween his car and the center of the
street. Under the street lights HE
car could be seen for blocks away,
absolutely no danger to the public,
and yet it cost him 1910.
This business man, like others, lie
paying nearly interest rates in the
way of taxes. A we'll beaten path has
been made to his door by solicitors
for charitable and other purposes,
and yet the police think it perfectly
proper to shake him down for this
amount.
There seems to be almost a mania
on the part of the police to grab an
automobile. Last summer the auto
mobile clubs of Tacoma and Seattle
advised autoists to avoid Olympia, on
account of its tendency to grab the
coin of every autoist. It is poor adj
q.