USA > Idaho > History of Washington, Idaho, and Montana : 1845-1889 > Part 31
USA > Montana > History of Washington, Idaho, and Montana : 1845-1889 > Part 31
USA > Washington > History of Washington, Idaho, and Montana : 1845-1889 > Part 31
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293
APPOINTMENTS.
in 1878, R. S. Greene being appointed chief justice, the place he vacated being filled by John P. Hoyt,70 of Michigan. Judge Wingard was reappointed. The other federal officers of this administration were N. H. Owings, secretary; C. B. Hopkins, marshal; J. B. Allen, United States attorney; William McMicken, collector of internal revenue; J. R. Hay- den, deputy collector; Robert G. Stuart, receiver of public moneys at Olympia; Josiah T. Brown, register of the general land-office; and C. B. Bagley, deputy.
By an act of congress, approved June 19, 1878, a change of apportionment was made, to take effect in 1881, which reduced the maximum of members of the lower house of the legislature to twenty-four from thirty, and increased the council from nine to twelve.
In 1884, William A. Newell was succeeded in the executive office by Watson C. Squire,71 a veteran of
mechanic; residence Port Townsend. C. P. Twiss, born in N. H .; age 50; came in 1870; farmer; residence Napavine. D. B. Ward, born in Ky; age 41; came in 1839; teacher; residence Seattle. W. H. White, born in Va; age 37; came in 1871; lawyer; residence Seattle. W. C. Porter, chief clerk, born in N. Y .; age 45; came in 1876; lawyer; residence Pomeroy. William Hughes, assistant clerk, born in Wales; age 31; came in 1875; printer; res- idence Seattle. Louis B. Noble, enrolling clerk, born in Wis .; age 26; came in 1878; lawyer; residence Walla Walla. Emma Harmon, assistant enrolling clerk, born in Wash .; age 23; residence Steilacoom. L. P. Berry, sergeant-at-arms, born in Ind .; age 36; immigrated in 1853; commission merchant; residence Colfax. G. D. Keller, door-keeper, born in Maine; age 71; came in 1858; farmer; residence on White River. F. Seidel, watch- man, born in Germany; age 32; came in 1879; carpenter; residence Seattle. W. S. Hayes, messenger, born in Ky; age 68; farmer; residence near Olym- pia. D. N. Utter, chaplain, born in Ind .; age 35; came in 1875; unitarian preacher; residence Olympia. The republicans had a small majority in either house, and 7 on a joint ballot. The religion of the assembly was repre- sented by 5 presbyterians, 4 methodists, 4 congregationalists, 2 baptists, 2 catholics, 2 unitarians, 2 episcopalians, and 1 lutheran. Olympia Wash. Standard, Oct. 24, 1878.
70 Hoyt had been appointed governor of Arizona, but resigned. Olympia Transcript, Dec. 28, 1878.
71 Governor Squire was born at Cape Vincent, N. Y., May 18, 1838. He graduated from the Wesleyan university of Middleton, Conn., in 1859, and commenced the study of the law, but the war of the rebellion calling him to the service of his country, he enlisted in 1861 as a private, being promoted to be first lieutenant of co. F., 19th N. Y. infantry. When the three months' men were discharged he resumed his studies in Cleveland, O., and graduated from the Cleveland law school in 1862, after which he raised a company of sharp-shooters, and was given the command of a battalion of the same, serv- ing in the army of the Cumberland. Subsequently he was judge advocate of the district of Tennessee, serving on the staffs of Maj .- Gen. Rousseau and
294
GOVERNMENT AND DEVELOPMENT.
the civil war and a man of rare administrative ability. During his term, and for several preceding years, the history of Washington, apart from the anti-chinese riots of 1885-6, was one rather of material develop- ment than of political significance. Up to that date, the employment of chinese in large numbers had been almost a necessity, since for the construction of the transcontinental and other railroads no adequate supply of white labor was available. But now the herding in cities and towns of hordes of chinamen was becoming a serious menace to society, and to the working classes an ever-present source of uneasiness. Thus in 1885, an attempt was made by the Knights of Labor, an organization mainly composed of foreign- ers, to expel them from the territory. At Tacoma they were compelled to leave at a month's warning; at Squak two were killed; but it was at Seattle and among the coal-miners that the agitation assumed its most aggravated form, resulting in bloodshed and general disorder. Fortunate it was that at this juncture a ruler was at the helm of state whose soundness of judgment and promptness of action were equal to the emergency.
On the 5th of November Governor Squire issued a proclamation calling on the citizens to preserve the peace; but the very next day a number of chinese houses were set on fire by an infuriated mob. There- upon troops were ordered from Vancouver, and a statement of the situation forwarded to the secretary of the interior, resulting in a proclamation by the
Maj .- Gen. Thomas. On the close of the war, he became agent for the Rem- ington Arms co., and managed their operations to the amount of $15,000,000. In 1876 he became interested in Washington, removiog in 1879 to Seattle, where he engaged in a number of enterprises tending to build up the city of his adoption, also becoming the owner of one of the largest dairy farms in the territory. In recognition of his efforts to secure for Washington the long-coveted boon of statehood, he was elected president of the statehood committee held at Ellensburg in January 1889, and as president also of the permanent committee labored assiduously in framing the memorials after- ward presented to congress, until finally his efforts and those of his colleagues were crowned with success. As a soldier, a statesman, and a politician his reputation is stainless, and there are none whose career has been more closely identified with the prosperity and development of Washington.
295
THE CHINESE RIOTS.
president, which was duly published and promulgated. For a time the disturbance subsided, only to break out again in more violent phase in February of the following year, when lives were lost in the effort to protect the chinese, and overt rebellion existed against the constituted authorities. The governor then adopted the extreme measure of declaring mar- tial law, and thus with the aid of the citizens and troops at length succeeded in restoring order. Though such a course subjected him to the abuse of the proletariat and to the hostile criticisms of a portion of the press, his action was approved by all the more conservative and law-abiding people of the community. By the Cleveland cabinet he was warmly commended, and as a token of its approval his resignation was not ac- cepted until long after the democrats succeeded to power. His conduct also received the approbation of the legislature, and of such representative associations as the Seattle chamber of commerce and the bar as- sociation of King county.72
During the régime of Governor Squire, and at his recommendation, several long-deferred public needs were supplied, among them the building of the peni- tentiary at Walla Walla, the addition of a manufac- turing department to the penitentiary at Seatco, and the erection of a new insane asylum at Steilacoom. The finances of the territory were carefully adminis- tered, and at the close of 1885 it was free from debt, and with an available surplus of nearly $100,000. His reports to the secretary of the interior are de- serving of more than passing notice, as models of political literature, on the preparation of which no money or pains was spared. The one for 1884 was declared by that official to be "the best that had ever been given by any governor of any territory." So great was the demand for it throughout the east, that,
12 The entire official correspondence relating to the Seattle riots, together with a careful presentation of the matter, will be found in Governor Squire's report to the secretary of the interior for 1886.
296
GOVERNMENT AND DEVELOPMENT.
the government edition being exhausted, the North- ern Pacific railroad company ordered at its own ex- pense a special edition of five thousand copies with accompanying maps. In the opening paragraph the governor states that as no report had been forwarded since 1879, while those issued before that date were somewhat meagre in their treatment, he has thought it best to make a full representation of the more im- portant facts connected with the resources and devel- opment of the territory. "For this purpose," he says, "I have diligently corresponded with the audi- tors and assessors of all the counties of the territory, furnishing them printed blanks to be returned, and with all the managers of its various educational and business institutions. Besides drawing on my own knowledge of the territory, gleaned during a residence here during the past five or six years, I have gath- ered and compiled a variety of important facts front leading specialists in reference to the geographical, geologic, and climatic characteristics, the coal and iron mining, horticultural, agricultural, and manufac- turing interests, the fisheries, and the flora and fauna of the territory.
"The data thus offered, together with the summary reports of our charitable and penal institutions, and an exhibit of the financial condition of the territory, if published, will not only be of great service in en- couraging and stimulating our people, but will fur- nish reliable information to the intending immigrant, and will indicate to congress the rightful basis of our claim for admission into the union of states."
In the report for 1885 we have a careful revision of the previous document, including more recent data. Again the government edition was speedily exhausted, whereupon a special edition of ten thousand copies was issued by authority of the legislature, and included the governor's biennial message for 1885-6. Under the title of the Resources and Development of Wash- ington Territory, it was scattered broadcast through-
297
INCREASE IN POPULATION.
out the United States and Europe, not only by the Northern Pacific railroad, but by real estate firms and by the citizens of Washington. To the representa- tions of the two reports is largely due the immense volume of immigration within the last half-decade, and more than anything else that has been written they have aided in securing admission to statehood.
The population of Washington increased from 75,000 in 1880 to 210,000 in 1886, owing chiefly to the rapid construction of railroad lines. The North- ern Pacific company operated at the beginning of this year 455 miles of railway within its limits; the Oregon Railway and Navigation company, 295 miles; the Columbia and Puget Sound railroad company, 44 miles; the Puget Sound Shore railroad company, 23 miles; and the Olympia and Chehalis railroad, 15 miles-making, with some newly completed por- tions of roads, 866 miles of railroad, where a few years previous only a few miles of local railway ex- isted. The effect was magical, all kinds of business growth keeping an even pace with transportation. Leaving out the lumber and coal trade of western Washington, and the cattle trade of eastern Wash- ington, each of which was very considerable, the Northern Pacific shipped to the east 4,161 tons of wheat and 1,600 tons of other grains, while the Ore- gon company carried out of southeastern Washington 250,000 tons of wheat, flour, and barley. The ton- nage of Puget Sound vessels, foreign and domestic, amounted to 1,240,499 tons, and the business of ship- building was active.
The federal and territorial officers, during the ad- ministration of Governor Squire, were N. H. Owings, secretary; R. S. Greene, chief justice; J. P. Hoyt, S. C. Wingard, and George Turner, associate justices; Jesse George, United States marshal; John B. Allen, United States district attorney; William McMicken, surveyor-general; C. Bash, customs collector; C. B. Bagley and E. L. Heriff, internal revenue collectors;
298
GOVERNMENT AND DEVELOPMENT.
John F. Gowey, registrar, and J. R. Hayden, receiver of the United States land-office at Olympia; F. W. Sparling, registrar, and A. G. Marsh, receiver at Vancouver; Joseph Jorgensen, registrar, and James Braden, receiver at Walla Walla; J. M. Armstrong, registrar, and J. L. Wilson, receiver at Spokane; and R. R. Kinne, registrar, and J. M. Adams, receiver at Yakima. Thomas H. Brents was delegate to con- gress.
In 1887, Eugene Semple of Oregon, democrat, was appointed governor of Washington. Semple had been a newspaper editor, and possessed fair talents, with industry. He found public affairs somewhat disquieted on the questions of statehood and woman suffrage. After the defeat of equal suffrage by the popular male vote of 1878, the legislature had, in 1883-4, passed an act conferring upon women the privilege of voting at all elections. Later, this act was pronounced unconstitutional, and after voting at two elections, serving upon juries, and holding various offices, the women of the commonwealth were disfranchised. But there was a sufficiently strong sentiment in favor of the political equality of the sexes to make it a party question in 1886, the repub- licans having incorporated equal suffrage in their platform, while a respectable majority in both houses of the legislature were pledged to vote for a bill re- storing the woman suffrage law.
Another matter upon which the legislature was divided was the proposition revived to remove the capital from Olympia to some more central location, favorable mention being made of North Yakima 73 and
75 Yakima City was incorporated Dec. 1, 1883. Twelve months later, when it had 400 inhabitants, the surveyors of the Northern Pacific railroad laid out the town of North Yakima, 4 miles distant from the old town, upon a broad and liberal scale, and proposed to the people of the latter that if they would consent to be removed to the new town they should be given as many lots there as they possessed in the old, and have besides their buildings moved upon them without cost to the owners. Such an agreement in writing was signed by a majority of the citizens, and in the winter and spring of 1884-5 over 100 buildings were moved on trucks and rollers, hotels, a bank, and
299
THE CORPORATION LAW.
Ellensburg. Those who were laboring for this end expected that the long-coveted panhandle of Idaho would be joined to Washington, and intended to use that accession of territory as a lever to effect the re- moval of the capital east of the mountains. But the people of western Washington strenuously opposed the transference of the government offices to the Ya- kima valley, and succeeded in preventing it.
The legislature of 1887 appointed a commission to codify the laws of Washington, consisting of W. H. Doolittle of Tacoma, J. H. Snively of Yakima, Thomas H. Came of Seattle, and A. E. Isham of Walla Walla. As the passage of the enabling act rendered it un- doubted that the state constitution would differ materially from the organic law of the territory, the commission suspended its labors until the state con- stitution had assumed definite form, when it reviewed its work.
The corporation law received particular attention, making provision for freights, for the rights of differ- ent roads to the use of each other's tracks, and the rights and duties of stockholders. All telegraph and telephone companies were given the right of way on the lines of railroad companies on equal conditions. Railroads might pass along streams, streets, or high- ways where life and property were not endangered, but the companies must restore either of these to its former condition of usefulness. Every railroad must construct not less than five miles of road each year until completed, or forfeit its charter. Foreign rail- roads could not enjoy greater privileges than domestic roads. An annual report was to be made by each railroad to the stockholders, subject to the inspection of the secretary of state; besides which a sworn an- nual statement was required of the officers of each company.
other business houses doing their usual business while en route. This was a good stroke of policy on the part of the railroad, general land commissioner, aud the company, as it definitely settled opposition, both to the new town and the corporation, which also secured a year's growth for North Yakima in ninety days' time. Subsequently the town had almost a phenomenal growth.
300
GOVERNMENT AND DEVELOPMENT.
The federal officers during Semple's second term were N. H. Owings, secretary ; R. A. Jones, chief jus- tice; W. G. Langford, George Turner, and Frank Allyn, associate justices. Charles S. Voorhees suc- ceeded Brents as delegate to congress.74 James Shields succeeded Hayden in the receiver's office of the land department, and John Y. Ostrander was appointed registrar in 1886.
7+ John B. Allen, republican, was chosen for congressman by a majority in 1887 of 7,371, over Voorhees, democrat, but was prevented taking his seat in congress by the prospect of the passage of an enabling act.
Among the leading citizens of Washington, in addition to those mentioned elsewhere in this volume, the following residents of Spokane Falls are worthy of note:
J. N. Glover, a Missourian by birth, and, it may be said, the founder of the city, settling there, or rather on its site, in 1873, and purchasing from two squatters named Downing and Scranton the tract of land on which their shanties were then the only buildings. First as the owner of a saw-mill, next as a contractor, then as the leading organizer and president of the First National Bank, and finally as mayor of Spokane, he has won for himself his well-earned wealth and reputation.
In connection with the First National Bank should be mentioned Horace L. Cutter, who was also one of its organizers. A native of Cleveland, O., in 1871 he removed to Colo, on account of his health, and in the following year to Cal., where for eight years he was secretary of the San José Savings Bank. Settling at Spokane Falls in 1882, he was appointed cashier and manager of the First National, and has since been a promoter of several lead- ing enterprises, as the electric light and cable-road companies. He was also one of the founders of the board of trade, of which he is treasurer, and of the public library, of which he is president.
The president and manager of the Traders' National Bank is E. J. Brickell, a native of Ind., but most of whose lifetime has been passed in Ill. and Nev., where he engaged in merchandising and lumbering. In 1884 he settled at Spokane, where he is now the owner of one of the largest hardware stores. Among the directors of this bank, and its former vice-president, is R. W. Forrest, a Pennsylvanian by birth, and now one of the capitalists of Spokane, where his residence dates from 1879.
Others deserving of notice are Col D. P. Jenkins, a native of O., and a law- yer by profession, who, after serving almost throughout the civil war, resumed practice, first in Tenn. and Ind., and later in Colo and W. T., whither he re- moved for his health's sake, settling at Spokane in 1879; J. D. Sherwood, a son of the late B. F. Sherwood of San Francisco, and who, as one of those who established the electric-light works, as president of the cable company, and in connection with other enterprises, has helped to build up his adopted city; W. Pettet, an Englishman, who visited California in 1846, and in 1886 made his permanent home at Spokane, where he purchased the first electric- light plant and organized the company by which it was operated; E. B. Hyde, a native of Wisconsin, who came to Spokane in 1881, two years later building, in conjunction with others, the Union block, and since that date add- ing a number of handsome edifices to the improvements of the city; W. M. Wolverton, a native of Ia, who, in 1881, the year after his arrival, erected the first brick building in Spokane, where, until retiring from business in 1886, he was the owner of a flourishing hardware store.
CHAPTER IX.
PROGRESS AND STATEHOOD.
REMARKABLE GROWTH OF THE TERRITORY-DEMAND FOR STATEHOOD-EN- ABLING ACT-STATE CONVENTION-CHARACTER OF THE DELEGATES- CONSTITUTION RATIFIED-WAITING FOR A PROCLAMATION-MEETING OF FIRST STATE LEGISLATURE-CHARACTER OF MEMBERS-UNEXPECTED DELAY OF THE PRESIDENTIAL PROCLAMATION-ELECTION OF SENATORS.
FROM 1880 to 1888 the progress made in Washing- ton was phenomenal, and was felt in every direction -in commerce, manufacture, banks, corporations, schools, growth of towns, improved styles of building, construction of railroads, mining, agriculture, and society. New towns had sprung up among the firs and cedars, the Puget Sound country, and out of the treeless prairies almost in a night; and hitherto un- important villages had become cities with corporate governments, grand hotels, churches, colleges, and opera-houses.
The board of trade of Tacoma in 1886 declared that "the commercial independence of Washington terri- tory accompanying the completion of the direct line of the Northern Pacific railroad to tide-water should be supplemented by its political independence as a state of the American union. Admission cannot in decency be delayed many years longer, whatever party influences may sway congress. The census of 1890 will show a population within the present limits of the territory exceeding 200,000, and a property valuation of at least $200,000,000."1 Governor
I The state auditor in November 1889 reported the resources of the com- monwealth from taxes, licenses, prison labor, etc., at $372,866.35.
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302
PROGRESS AND STATEHOOD.
Squire had said in a report to the secretary of the interior that among the reasons for the admission of the territory were the "sterling, patriotic, and enter- prising character of its citizens; its present and pro- spective maritime relations with the world; its position as a border state on the confines of the dominion of Canada, the most powerful province of Great Britain ; its wealth of natural resources and growing wealth of its people; the efficiency of its educational system, re- quiring that its school lands should be allotted and utilized; its riparian rights should be settled, capital and immigration encouraged, and the full manage- ment and control of municipal and county affairs should be assumed by the legislature, which is not allowed during the territorial condition."
Governor Semple, in his report for 1888, gave the population as 167,982, showing that the prophecy of the board of trade was not an over-estimate of the probabilities. The taxable property was given at $84,621,182, or a gain of $65,698,260 in ten years, which being taken from the assessment roll was con- sidered conservative enough for the minimum ; for as the governor quaintly remarked: "Whatever else an average American citizen may neglect, he never for- gets to beat down the assessor." The revenue pro- duced by a tax of two and a half mills was $212,734.92, showing the ability to erect and maintain the necessary public works as they should be required. There were in the territory in operation 762.2 miles of standard gauge railroads belonging to the North Pacific railroad company; and 282.6 miles of the same gauge belong- ing to the Oregon railway and navigation company; the Seattle, Lake Shore, and Eastern railroad com- pany operated 58 miles of standard gauge road; the Columbia and Puget Sound railroad 44.5 miles; and the Puget Sound and Gray's Harbor railroad 10 miles -- making in all 1,157.3 miles of broad-gauge railways. In addition, there were 40 miles of narrow-gauge road, divided between the Olympia and Chehalis valley, the
303
PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS.
Mill Creek F. and M. company, and the Cascade rail- road-making in all 1,197.7 miles, and the increase of mileage was augmenting yearly. The amount of coal mined in the territory in 1888 was 1,133,801 tons. The output in lumber of the Washington mills in four localities only for the year was 320,848,203 feet, their capacity being a million feet greater, shingles and lath in proportion. The amount consumed within the territory was 105,940,225 feet of lumber; 14,474,000 lath, and 12,921,250 shingles; the remainder was ex- ported. The estimated capacity of all the mills was 1,043,596,000 feet.
An insane asylum, costing $100,000, was completed at Steilacoom in 1888, in which were treated 200 pa- tients ; and $60,000 was appropriated for the erection of a hospital for the insane at Medical lake in eastern Washington, which was being expended on the work. Up to 1887 the territorial prisoners were confined in a private prison, under the control of contractors, but in 1887 a penitentiary was completed at Walla Walla, costing $153,000. At Vancouver a school for defect- ive youth was erected, partly by the citizens of that place donating land, and the rest by the legislature, making at two sessions appropriations for that pur- pose. The national guard had completed its organiza- tion, the legislature having levied a tax of one fifth of a mill for military purposes, and consisted of two regi- ments of infantry and a troop of cavalry-in all 750 officers and men. These and various other matters, including the question of who should pick the hop crop in Puyallup valley, were reported to the secre- tary, and Governor Semple put it: "We are rich and reputable, and do not require anybody to settle our bills. Give us the right to regulate our local affairs, and we will not only pay our own officers, but we will render much service to the union."
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