Seattle: 1900-1920 -From Boomtown, Through Urban Turbulence ...

12 Part OneThe Harbor Lines Commission had to consider some important questions. Whatproportion of the tideland should be reserved for the state? And what effect would thestate’s claims have on the present occupants, including the railroad companies? Theprovision of waterways, for example, would indent the property of the present occupants.The commission wanted the state to have effective control of the harbor and waterways.How to prevent the commission from implementing this interpretation became Burke’sforemost preoccupation: he considered the state to be taking private property for public usewithout compensation. Many, however, preferred state ownership.Even the chamber of commerce’s refusal to join him in opposing the commissioncould not deter Burke. First, he sought and received an injunction from the superior courtjudge I. J. Lichtenberg in Henry Yesler’s suit against the commission—Lichtenberg owedhis appointment to Burke. The state supreme court reversed Lichtenberg’s decision sevenmonths later, in July 1891, upholding the commission by contending that the fact that Yeslerhad wharfs on the tideland did not mean that Yesler owned the land those wharfs werebuilt on. Anticipating an unfavorable decision by the Harbor Lines Commission, Burkeemployed a delaying tactic by insisting that this was a federal matter and not subject tostate jurisdiction. He filed for an injunction in federal district court, upon which sat JudgeCornelius Hanford, who also owed his appointment to Burke. Hanford dutifully issuedthe injunction, even before the briefs were filed. Meanwhile, the state attorney general,W. C. Jones, after bringing suits successively through local and state courts and winningthem all, finally filed before the U.S. Supreme Court, where Burke’s suit was waiting. On19 December 1892, the court decided against Burke because “no federal question was soraised.” But Burke’s delaying tactics worked: the Harbor Lines Commission’s terminationdate was 15 January 1893. The legislature now had to establish a second commission.The legislature enacted a bill transferring the duties of the Harbor Lines Commission toa board of land commissioners with jurisdiction overall state lands. The bill was signed by Governor JohnH. McGraw, an ally of Burke. McGraw then appointedmore compliant commissioners.The new commission laid out new harbor linesand reserved a 300-foot strip of land outside of themeander line for the harbor. The dock owners, particularlythe GN, were unsatisfied. Giving up on the commission,Burke and the GN attorneys in 1899 proceeded to workupon the new Secretary of War to reverse the priorsecretary’s approval of the commission’s action and toredraw the outer harbor line, which would eliminate the300-foot strip reserved for the harbor. Burke and theattorneys were successful: the inner harbor line becamethe official one, and the squatter rights beyond that linewere left intact. In 1903, to accommodate the GN (andnegotiated at Burke’s urging through Hill’s legislativelobbyist James D. Farrell), the harbor lines were furtherextended at Smith Cove.A portrait of Eugene Semple engravedduring his tenure as governor ofWashington Territory, 1887-1889.