USA > Washington > History of Washington the evergreen state : from early dawn to daylight with portraits and biographies Vol. II > Part 32
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HISTORY OF WASHINGTON.
der a visit from an inimical iron-clad, to which the dense fogs of our winter coast offer so large a temptation as a convenient shield, too dangerous to be desirable. War is an evil guest, whether offensive or defensive, for any nation to entertain-an arbitration which should be the last resorted to and only justified by a gravity of situation that permits no other settlement. Like matrimony, " it is not to be entered into unadvisedly or lightly, but reverently, discreetly, soberly," and considering the solem- nity of the matter, we are almost inclined to add " in the fear of God." But there are times when the honor of the flag, the dig- nity of the nation, and the manifest protection of her citizens from oppression or wrong leave no other course to be pursued. If so evil a fate befall us as to force the Union to appeal to that trial by battle, which should always go forth coupled with the old-time prayer of the knightly challenger, that "God would show the right," then the great Northwest, in common with her sister States, should be fully prepared to enjoy peace or " wel- come with bloody hands to hospitable graves" any and all who seek to molest or violate her altars and her homes.
CHAPTER XLIV.
TRACES WASHINGTON'S POLITICAL CHANGES AND PROGRESS AS
A STATE.
" I know no land where party strife So rapidly subsides, When wordy war with menace rife Some policy derides.
The stranger fails to understand The seas we safely float, Which seem to threaten all the land, But fail with final vote.
The strifes political and storm That come to cloud the air,
Yet die in windy speech and song, Leaving our skies still fair. We place a President and make The offices we fill,
While those defeated calmly take The people's voted will."
-BREWERTON.
THE thought woven in verse above may be prosaically ex- pressed as follows : The nations of Europe find it difficult to understand why the intense feeling engendered by our periodic Presidential and local campaigns, with their strongly contested elections, dies out, leaving no after bitterness among the com- batants when the strife is ended and the result decided at the polls. They forget that we are an educated people, imbued with and fully comprehending the principles upon which our govern- ment is founded, perfectly satisfied that any new or even doubt- ful experiment in political policy shall be fairly tried if the will of the majority so determine ; above all, fully believing in the strength, stability, and powers of recuperation under any cir- cumstances, however depressing, of the republic in which we dwell. It is a part of that marked individuality, so peculiarly American, a characteristic as strongly impressed upon the inhab-
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HISTORY OF WASHINGTON.
itants of Washington as any other State in the Union, that no party hate lives beyond election-day ; it ends at the polls. In this connection we may say that one result of our Civil War was a matter of astonishment to the world. When the armies on either side were disbanded, amounting in the aggregate to up- ward of two millions of men, it was currently believed and looked for among those unacquainted with the adaptability of the national character, that the men thus suddenly removed from the trade of war and thrown upon their own resources to live by the arts of peace would fail or be disinclined to re-estab- lish themselves in civil pursuits, but rather become thieves and marauders, leagued together to prey upon their more law-abid- ing and peaceable fellow-citizens-an expectation destined to be dispelled, for at the close of the contest this multitude of dis- banded veterans made these sceptical foreigners wonder to see them break up their hostile camps, lay aside the musket and the sabre, and return quietly without friction to the occupations they had relinquished. No other nation in the world, unless, perhaps, Germany, could have endured the strain of such a crisis with so satisfactory a result. And why ? We repeat, it was the outcome of American education-just such a mental training and feeling of self-reliance as is inculcated by Washing- ton's common school teachings of to-day.
To return to the political changes immediately preceding and following the admission of the Territory as a State, we will begin with the year
1888.
The second session of the Fiftieth Congress, held in 1888, found the Territory of Washington represented in the federal councils by Delegate Charles S. Voorhees, of Colfax, a Demo- crat ; while the opening of the following one saw his chair occu- pied by John B. Allen, of Seattle, his Republican successor. The vote which brought about this change stood thus : Allen, Rep., 26,201 ; Voorhees, Dem., 18,920, and Greene, Pro., 1137, giving the seat to Mr. Allen by a plurality of 7281 votes. The results of former territorial elections, going back to 1880, are chiefly interesting as showing the ebb and flow of the political tides and the marked increase in the number of those entitled
23
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HISTORY OF WASHINGTON.
to exercise the elective franchise. They are officially given below :
Dem.
Rep 8,820
Pro
1880 Congress. . . 7,013
Rep. majority 1,807 66
1882
8,244
11,252
66 3,008
1884 66
20,995
20,847
Dem.
66 148
1886
66
23,272
21,080
2,875 plurality 2,192
The remarkable closeness of the election in 1884 is worthy of note. Out of a total of 51,842 votes cast we find the result de- termined by a Democratic majority of only 148, so evenly matched were the contending parties. The last Territorial Legis- lature stood as follows : Council, Rep. 11, Dem. 1; House, Rep. 20, Dem. 4-a very decided Republican supremacy. The pre- vious contest for congressional delegate, whose figures we have already noted, was between Voorhees, the successful Demo- cratic candidate, Bradshaw, his Republican competitor, and Newell, the advocate of prohibition. The federal appointees were Thomas Burke, whose predecessor was Richard A. Jones, Chief Justice, his Associate Judges being William G. Langford, Lucius B. Nash, and Frank Allyn, of Tacoma. The guberna- torial chair was occupied by Miles C. Moore, the last of the ter- ritorial governors ; his predecessor was Governor Squire.
The close of the year
1889
is all important in the history of Washington, as marking her ad- mission to the dignity of statehood, an event which necessitated an election-held October 1st, 1889-for governor and other State officers, resulting in the choice of Elisha P. Ferry to fill the position of chief magistrate of Washington for two years, with Charles F. Laughton as Lieutenant-Governor. The official re- turns of this contest stood 33,711 votes for Ferry, the successful Republican aspirant, with 24,731 for his Democratic competitor, a Republican majority of 8980.
The President's proclamation admitting Washington to state- hood was issued November 11th, 1889, and the State officers were inaugurated November 18th following. On the 19th the State Legislature elected John B. Allen, of Walla Walla, a pro- fessional lawyer, born in Indiana, and ex-Governor Watson C. Squire, of Seattle, a native of New York, and a manufacturer by occupation, the first United States senators for the State of
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HISTORY OF WASHINGTON.
Washington. The former drew the term expiring March 3d, 1893 ; the latter the short term, ending March 3d, 1891. Both were Republicans, able men, well fitted to sustain the dignity of their new office. The only representative to which Washing- ton, with her limited population, was then entitled was accord- ed to John L. Wilson, a son of Indiana, a lawyer and Republi- can, who was elected at the first State election in October of this year ; he received 34,039 votes, his Democratic competitor, Thomas C. Griffiths, having 24,492-a Republican majority of 9547. John B. Allen, one of the new-made senators, preceded him as Delegate. The last to represent the Territory in Con- gress, he had been elected at the biennial election of 1888, but the passage of the Admission Bill terminated his office. The number of dwellers within the bounds of Washington, based upon an estimate taken during the year, gave a total of 257,000 souls, while the wealth invested in the various banking houses of every description throughout the State aggregated $18,015,973, a per capita allowance of $106.64 to each inhabitant. The percentage of deposits among the various institutions being divided as fol- lows : $55.16 in national banks, $44.67 in State banks, and 27 cents in private concerns. The year
1890
saw the holding in November of a biennial election. The Legis- lature then chosen elected Watson C. Squire to succeed him- self as United States Senator for six years from March 4th, 1891. The advent of
1891
found the congressional representation of the State unchanged, with Cornelius H. Haneford, of Seattle, as United States Dis- trict Judge ; Patrick H. Winston, of Spokane Falls, United States District Attorney, and Thomas R. Brown, of Tacoma, United States Marshal for Washington. The World's Fair and the necessary preparations for the carrying out of that stupen- dous undertaking furnished the most interesting topic of the year. The following individuals had been selected by the gen- eral Government as World's Fair Commissioners for the State of Washington-viz., Messrs. Henry Drum, a distinguished citizen and ex-Mayor of Tacoma, Democrat, with O. B. Hopkins, a Republican, William Bingham and C. D. Bagler being their
496
HISTORY OF WASHINGTON.
alternates. Then recognizing the propriety of uniting the finer taste and more delicate intuitions of womanhood with the admin- istrative abilities of the sterner sex, the powers that be had select- ed as lady managers Mrs. M. O. Owings, of Olympia ; Mrs. Alice Houghton, of Spokane, with Mrs. C. W. Griggs, a most estima- ble lady of Tacoma, and Miss Josephine Helen Stimson, of Palouse City, as alternates.
Not to be behind her federal sisters, the State Legislature had enacted a law in the spring of 1889 creating a World's Fair Commission, and appropriating the liberal sum of $100,000, afterward increased by supplementary legislation in February of 1893 by $50,000, with an additional sum of $5000 for the use of the State Board of Lady Managers. The following officers formed the personnel of this commission : President, N. G. Blalock, Walla Walla; Vice-President, S. B. Conover, Port Townsend ; Secretary, P. C. Kauffman, Tacoma ; Executive Commissioner, G. V. Calhoun, La Conner ; Assistant Executive Commissioner, Percy W. Rochester, Seattle ; Commissioners, L. R. Grimes, Ellensburgh ; W. L. LaFollette, Pullman ; T. H. Cavanaugh, Olympia ; C. H. Ballard, Conconnully.
The Board of Lady Managers, whose names we have already recorded, organized by electing Mrs. Alice Houghton as Presi- dent, Mrs. Owings Vice-President, and Mrs. Griggs as Secretary.
We cannot take leave of this subject without referring, as a convenient place for its introduction into this portion of our his- torical narrative, to the general system on which this commission proposed to conduct its work. We desire to add a brief descrip- tion of the building erected under its auspices on the Fair grounds to serve as a general headquarters and reception hall for the ac- commodation of the citizens of the Evergreen State.
First as to the system :
In order to facilitate its work and to secure the best possible good for the State, the commission started out on the plan to make for Washington a dual exhibit. In other words, they pro- posed to collect exhibits in sufficiently large quantities not only to place in the Washington World's Fair building a complete exhibition of all the materials, showing the wealth and natural resources of the State, but also to enter with a complete exhibit each one of the general departments of the Columbian Exposi- tion. With this in view, they divided the work into departments
497
HISTORY OF WASHINGTON.
corresponding as nearly as possible with those represented in the Exposition.
As regards the State building, their first step was to invite competition among the architects of Washington for a suitable plan, the three best to be rewarded by prizes. In response to this request no less than twenty-two designs were received ; of these the committee selected that of Mr. W. A. Ritchie, of Seat- tle, as entitled to the first prize of $500 ; the second, of $300, was awarded to Messrs. Ballard & Haywood, of Tacoma ; and the third, of $200, to Mr. Warren P. Skillings, of Seattle. But upon their submittal, as required, for final approval to the Director of Works at Chicago, this order was reversed, and in accordance with the scriptural declaration " that the last shall be first," the plan of Mr. Skillings was preferred, and the build- ing ordered erected in accordance with his design. It was con- veniently arranged, giving twenty-two thousand square feet of space. The material employed was entirely the product of Washington, generously contributed by the various logging camps, lumber and quarry men, and the numerous factories of interior finishings throughout the State. Its flagstaff, which will be specially alluded to in our " Conclusion," is the highest in the world-a single pine of native growth, whose shaft, two hundred and eighty-five feet in height, towers aloft and sup- ports the national ensign directly in front of the State edifice. Every other flagstaff on the ground-and they number over forty in all-was also grown in the woods of Washington. The structure itself has already attracted favorable comment from individual visitors-a circumstance, where there is so much to be admired, which speaks most favorably for its perfection. It has also formed the theme of various eulogistic newspaper arti- cles. Though filled to repletion with a fine display of Washing- ton's native and industrial products, it still falls short of fully representing the great natural resources of the State.
The annexed statistics will be found interesting to those who prefer to follow arithmetical paths of progress and gauge the rising of the tides of Washington's prosperity by calculations which, being grounded upon facts and expressed in figures, seldom flatter, and must be falsified before they can deceive.
The financial condition of the State, as shown by a compara-
.
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HISTORY OF WASHINGTON.
tive examination of the census reports for 1880 and 1890, give the following results :
1880.
1890.
Bonded debt.
$75,000
$451,000
Floating debt.
129,384
719,637
Gross debt
204,354
1,170,637
The net State debt for 1890, deducting available resources of $44,927, left a balance of $1,125,710.
In railway matters, the statistics of mileage, reported for the year ending June 1st, 1889, were : Official, 1140.82 ; unofficial, 216 ; total, 1356.82 ; miles added during the year, 371.12.
The G. A. R. strength, as reported for Washington and Alaska combined, showed a membership this year of 2321, M. M. Holmes, of Seattle, being its commander, with headquarters at Tacoma.
1892.
January of this year brought a ripple of excitement to the political world of Washington, the Hon. Watson C. Squire, Republican, being re-elected to the United States Senate for six years from March 3d, 1891. The contest was a long and excit- ing one, the friends of the contending candidates, especially those representing the rival cities of Seattle and Tacoma, ex- Governor Squire and Judge Calkins, moving with vigor to secure the office for their section's favorite son. Judge Calkins found many sympathizers in his defeat. A learned jurist, a manly and gallant gentleman, an approved soldier of the Civil War, it almost seemed as if no influence, however strong, could success- fully oppose so magnetic an individuality ; but as the stars in their courses fought against Sisera, so the fortunes of war were against him. Possession, in the case of Governor Squire, proved even more than the proverbial "nine points of the law." He was returned after many ballots and a battle so stubborn and sus- tained as to reflect the utmost credit upon the staying qualities of all parties. The final vote on joint ballot stood : Squire, Rep., 58 ; Hon. William H. Calkins, Rep., 30 ; Thomas Carroll, Dem., 30; Lieutenant-Governor, Charles E. Laughton, 1; El- dridge, 1. The vote in each house, as taken January 20th, was : Senate-Squire, 15; Calkins, 14; Carroll, 4; Laughton, 1. House-Squire, 43; Calkins, 15 ; Carroll, 18; Eldridge, 1. This
499
HISTORY OF WASHINGTON.
Legislature, so largely Republican, was elected to office at the biennial election held in November of 1890. A general election for State officers occurred in the same month of this year (1892), at which John H. McGraw, of Seattle, was elected Governor. The Legislature, elected at the same time, commenced balloting for a successor to United States Senator John B. Allen on the day fixed by law, and continued balloting, taking two votes each day, until the final adjournment. One hundred and seven ballots without a choice were taken, and the Legislature having adjourned, Governor McGraw appointed John B. Allen to suc- ceed himself as United States Senator.
The assessed valuation of property, census of 1880, footed up but $23,810,693 for the entire State, while that of 1890 shows the vast increase of no less than $100,984,756, the total for Washing- ton being $124,795,449. A goodly heritage for a State just emerging from the wilderness.
The military order of the Loyal Legion, which has its head- quarters at Tacoma, was instituted in the State of Washington January 14th, 1891 ; First Lieutenant and Adjutant, A. B. Case.
The population of Washington was 349,390 ; of these 217,562 were males and 131,828 females-an undue proportion of the sterner sex, almost justifying another effort on the part of the considerate Mr. Mercer to supply the evident dearth of those " inferior" forces which, nevertheless, through the strength of their acknowledged weakness, rule the world. To follow these vital statistics a step farther, we make another subdivision, and discover that 259,385 of the full sum are native born, leaving 90,005 to represent other nationalities. Drawing the color line, we have a total of 340,513 white against an aggregate of 8877 belonging to various races of opposite hue.
The Presidential election held in November of 1892 brought its full share of interest to the good people of Washing- ton, and was entered into with an ardor to be expected from a State for the first time permitted to influence results in the larger political arena, and cast her electoral vote, albeit some- what of the smallest, for the Chief Magistrate of the nation. Her suffrages were divided among four candidates, whose names we annex, with the number of votes given to each respectively : Harrison, Rep., received 36,460 ; Cleveland, Dem., 29,802 ; Weaver, People's Party, 19,165 ; and Bidwell, Pro., 2542, leaving
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HISTORY OF WASHINGTON.
Harrison, so far as the State of Washington was concerned, first in the field, with a plurality of 6658 votes-a result which, while it failed to alter the general issue, slightly detracted from and did its little best to diminish the full tide of Democratic success that, somewhat to the surprise of its advocates, swept over the land like a prairie fire. It is, moreover, just possible that it may have infused a drop of sweetness into the bitter cup of the defeated candidate and his greatly disappointed followers.
The present year of grace,
1893,
is yet too young to add any fact of special political importance to this history. The following represents the personnel of Wash- ington State government to-day : Governor, John H. McGraw ; Lieutenant-Governor, Frank H. Luce; Secretary of State, James H. Price ; Treasurer, Owen A. Bowen ; Auditor, Laban R. Grimes ; Attorney-General, William C. Jones ; Superintendent of Public Instruction, C. W. Bean ; Commissioner of Public Lands, W. T. Forrest ; State Printer, O. C. White ; Supreme Court, R. O. Dunbar, Chief Justice ; T. L. Stiles, J. P. Hoyt, T. J. Anders, and Elmon Scott.
The State Legislature stands : Senate-Democrats, 9 ; Repub- licans, 25. House-Democrats, 20 ; Republicans, 50 ; People's Party, 8. On joint ballot, Democrats, 29; Republicans, 75 ; Populists, 8.
CHAPTER XLV.
THE NATIONAL GUARD OF WASHINGTON-ITS GROWTH, COMPOSI- TION AND SERVICES.
" No mercenary soldiers these Who wait the trumpet's call, Firm as the rocks where twilight's breeze Sees sunset-radiance fall. Who hold their country's flag full dear, And willingly enroll,
As gallantly they volunteer, Beneath its starry fold. Wearing the uniform with pride, Deeming no duty hard,
1
But ever anxious to deride Grim danger in the Guard.
Who faced the furious crowd that thronged Seattle's blood-stained street,
And routed miscreants who longed Her ruin to complete.
When Gilman saw her miners arm New delvers to depose,
They found the Guard too strong to harm, And struck no further blows.
The fire-fiend that swept Spokane No effort might retard, Yet in that hour of fervent flame She trusted to the Guard.
The soldier-citizens we boast, Of Washington the pride, Sure safeguard of Pacific's coast And inland prairies wide."
-BREWERTON.
WE desire to express our thanks to a valued correspondent (General R. G. O'Brien, Adjutant-General of the State of Wash- ington) for his official reports, received too late, we regret to say, to be fully utilized. In this connection we would remark that the National Guard of Washington owes its legal establishment
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HISTORY OF WASHINGTON.
and excellent discipline in no small degree to the unwearied efforts of General O'Brien, who, in 1883, organized the first military company at Olympia, now known as Company A of the First Regiment, N. G. S. W., and assumed its control until a permanent commander could be secured. This organization was followed by that of the Seattle Rifles, now Company B of the First Regiment, with Joseph Green as Captain. The Tacoma Guards, now Company C of the same regiment, and Company D, of Seattle, with the late lamented John C. Haines, afterward Colonel Haines, as its Captain. In pursuance of his good work, the general then endeavored to obtain the passage of a law to organize the militia of the Territory, which, however, failed, at the time, causing the disbandment of the company at Olympia. A renewed effort was no more successful; but the eminent ser- vices of the First Regiment during the Anti Chinese riots at Seattle, in which three companies were on duty for five days at their own expense until relieved by the Regulars, so impressed the people with the necessity of sustaining and properly legaliz- ing the military organization of the State that it received its first official recognition at the hands of the Legislature by an act approved January 28th, 1888. Up to this time the companies enrolled had been kept together, as General O'Brien remarks, " through the military ardor of their members and the martial spirit of their friends, there being no law whereby the Territory could be charged with any expense incident to their services."
Yet the necessity for the existence of such a force must be ap- parent to all. It has prevented the appeal, always humiliating to State pride, for that federal aid which the Constitution directs shall be given to " protect each State, if demanded, from domes- tic violence"-a request which cannot be made without the tacit acknowledgment that the State is unable to carry out its own laws and defend itself. It is, moreover, always liable to any call for the suppression of foreign invasion, besides sustaining that spirit so essential for the defence of the flag and the preservation of a nucleus for formation and military instruction, the value of which was abundantly proved at the outbreak of the late Civil War. Did space permit, it would be both curious and interesting to go back and recall the gradual growth of our national militia system from the time when Congress passed its first militia law, in May, 1792, to the marvellous perfection of the equipment and
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HISTORY OF WASHINGTON.
discipline of the National State Guards of the present. That now venerable law is still nominally in force, though in reality never carried out, for it was practically strangled at birth by efforts immediately made for its appeal and amendment. Among other matters it laid its injunction upon "any able-bodied male citizen between eighteen and forty-five years of age, enrolled by his captain, to keep himself provided with a 'good musket or firelock, of a bore sufficient for balls of one eighteenth part of a pound,' two spare flints, and twenty-four cartridges, or else with a ' good rifle, shot-pouch, powder-horn, twenty balls, and a quar- ter of a pound of powder.'" The quaint instructions for grena- diers and bombarders are still to be perused, and also the direc- tions to commissioned officers to provide themselves with "a sword and hanger and spontoon," or, if mounted, to have their " holsters covered with bear-skin caps." The provisions of this act almost entirely ignored those of a plan formulated by Gen- eral Knox, of Revolutionary fame, in 1790. Speaking generally, the whole question of militia organization and discipline, like the woman in the Scripture, " suffered many things from many physicians," but without special relief. Successive Presidents made various recommendations, and Congress acted upon them, but with evident reluctance to interfere with the original law. Madison's most noticeable contribution to the subject was to propose annual camps of instruction for the commissioned and non-commissioned officers. In 1816 Secretary Graham, under direction of Congress, suggested the division of the militia into three classes, according to ages, of which the two younger were to be encamped annually. In 1825 a board, in which Scott and Taylor were prominent, reported that the great defect was the excess of numbers it held to service, and proposed, as a substi- tute, that a brigade only of militia should be formed in each con- gressional district and properly instructed. It will be perceived that there was a general drift throughout all these years toward a select body rather than a general enrolment. The idea of volunteers and uniformed companies was evidently bearing fruit and gaining ground. To this the Mexican War gave a new im- pulse. Another element caused the old militia system to fall into general disrepute. There are those still living who remember the grotesque gatherings, largely caricatured, and known as " general trainings," which mustered a force so ridiculously
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