Impeachment Proceedings against Insurance Commissioner John H. Schively, August 1909.

Prepared by Patrick McDonald, Office of the Secretary of State

Since statehood, the Insurance Commission was a sub-agency of the Secretary of State’s Office. Secretary of State Nichols appointed John H. Schively, the Chairman of the Washington State Republican Party and former one-term Representative from Whatcom County (1895 session), to oversee the Insurance Commission when he took office in 1901. In 1907, the Legislature voted to create a separate agency with the Insurance Commissioner as a separately elected official and part of the executive branch.

According to some of the charges leveled at the Secretary of State and the Insurance Commissioner, a Walla Walla fire insurance company was required to pay $400 for the right to sell insurance on top of the statutory $50 filing fee. Another insurance company was told they would not be able to work in Washington without paying a $250 “residency fee” even though no such fee was statutorily authorized to be collected. Over 150 insurance companies testified to a legislative investigatory committee that they were required to pay up to $500 on top of regular filing fees in order to receive their authorization to sell insurance in Washington. In the end, more than $25,000 in excess fees were collected to which Secretary Nichols or Commissioner Schively had no record as to how the money was spent. As the 1909 legislative session drew to a conclusion, calls for impeachment were squelched by members of the Senate, but the House, after a raucous debate, approved an impeachment trial on a 76-17 vote. After a break of 113 days (March 11 to June 23, 1909), Governor Marion Hay called a special session solely to consider impeachment. The break afforded the Senate investigatory committee the time to do their work and come up with their findings.

During the interim between the 1909 regular and special session, Schively was convicted by a federal grand jury of embezzlement in Spokane. He received his summons while attending a hearing of the Senate investigative committee. Two days later the grand jury issued a second indictment of perjury. On May 4, Nichols resigned as Secretary of State citing the negative press coverage and reiterating his innocence. His health declined rapidly and he died in Everett at the age of 83 on April 5, 1913.

Schively earned the distinction of using the “naiveté” defense noting that the extra funds provided through additional fees on licensing insurance companies were divided up equally between himself and Secretary Nichols. He told the Senate Committee that he kept no records of the money. As Gordon Newell noted “with tearful eyes and much sniffling, he promised that he would “try to do better in the future”” (Newell, 1975, p. 234). He further broke ground as the first statewide elected official to plead the Fifth Amendment, refusing to provide testimony on the grounds that his “naïve innocence” (ibid.) would be incriminating to his case.

The Legislature provided $70,000 to cover the the impeachment trial and investigative committee. By August 11, 1909, the investigation was complete and the House voted 96-0 to impeach. In the meantime, the Legislature continued to work through the special session until August 26 when the impeachment trial formally commenced. While Schively’s Attorney, George C. Isreal, provided a rousing defense of his client, citing a hidden agenda against Schively, his client wept through most of the proceedings. Still, even Schively’s attorney voiced frustration to the Olympia Recorder when he called his client “the worst witness I ever had. He looks like he doesn’t seem to be telling the truth when he is he is telling the truth” (Newell, 1975, p. 235). After two weeks of testimony on 26 articles of impeachment, the Senate voted 26-14 against the Insurance Commissioner on each of the articles (Brazier, 2000). While it was a strong majority, it did not meet the 2/3rds required and the lugubrious Schively returned to his office and completed his term. The local press howled at the verdict, condemming the 14 who voted for Schively as corrupt and demanding immediate approval of a recall law. That happened in the next session.

Schively’s trial was only a small part of bigger events going on with the fledgling state government. The Governor and Superintendent of Public instruction died in office, the Lieutenant Governor took his place, the Secretary of State was forced to resign, and every statewide elected official who took office in 1909 with the exception of the State Auditor, did not survive the next election. The 1912 election also ushered in a progressive, yet raucous legislative session, where the once dominant Republicans had to share power with three other parties. The Republicans held a 48 seat plurality against Democrats (18), People’s Party (14), Progressives (16), and a lone Socialist. The dust did not settle, nor were most of the statewide office holders re-elected on a regular basis for another five years. The specter and outcome of Schively’s trial would hang over Washington’s capitol for at least a decade.

This collection includes 29 documents, publications, and photographs documenting the impeachment of Insurance Commissioner John H. Schively in August 1909.

Unless otherwise stated, these records were gathered from various collections of the Washington State Archives. Full citation information can be found with each record.

Learn about the documentation of photographs in Washington and what information is found in the various record types by selecting the tab that says "About this Collection" here.