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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1882 | 1 |
| 1883 | 2 |
| 1884 | 3 |
| 1885 | 3 |
| 1886 | 2 |
| 1887 | 9 |
20 stories matching exploit
- The Brutal Reality of the Cigar Factory
The Cigar Makers' Union uncovers the exploitation of children and girl laborers working grueling hours in Seattle.
- The Economic Case for Civil Rights
An editorial from 1886 argues that Northern labor interests depend on ending the exploitation of Black workers in the South.
- The Forged Passports of Seattle's Chinese Exclusion Era
A federal investigation reveals how corrupt officials exploited the Chinese Exclusion Act for profit by forging entry certificates.
- The Brutal Reality of Convict Leasing in the Washington Territory
A scathing look at the state's profit-driven 'convict lease' system, where human beings were treated as disposable capital and exploited for labor with zero accountability for their survival.
- The Great Seattle Church Lottery Scandal
Local merchants clash with church committees over a raffle scheme that allegedly inflated prices and exploited their goodwill.
- The Broken Promises of the Northern Pacific
A scathing editorial accuses the railroad giant of land-grab schemes and consistent bad faith toward the people of Washington Territory.
- The Brutal Reality of the Seattle Sailor Market
A waterfront insider describes the predatory schemes used to trap unsuspecting men into dangerous lives at sea.
- The Unchecked Power of the Northern Pacific
A scathing editorial decries the 'bloodless, soulless' corporation for exploiting homesteaders and evading taxes while demanding public lands.
- Whitman County Farmers Declare 'War' on Northern Pacific Monopoly
Protesting settlers in Eastern Washington demand Congress seize 'unearned' lands from a 'soulless corporation' accused of land-grabbing and labor exploitation.
- The Forgotten Municipal Boarding House
In 1887, a Seattle councilman proposed a city-funded boarding house to protect immigrants from predatory boarding house operators and ensure the city welcomed its new arrivals.
- Protecting the Immigrants on the Northern Pacific
Railroad officials implement new dining standards for emigrant passengers to prevent exploitation and food price gouging.
- The Hypocrisy of the Anti-Chinese Movement
An editorial rebuke to Seattle businessmen who exploited anti-Chinese fervor for public clout while quietly retaining their labor, amid rising local tensions.
- The 'Chisel' Game: How Seattle's Working Class Fought Labor Exploitation
A scathing report from 1887 reveals the corrupt 'ticket' system that allowed middlemen to siphon wages from laborers—a century-old echo of modern gig-economy wage theft.
- The Price of a Day's Pay: Seattle’s 1887 Labor Brokers
A deep dive into the predatory practices of late 19th-century employment agencies that thrived on the desperation of transient laborers.
- The Price of Resistance: Seattle Unions Take On 'Dark' Boarding House Practices
While Seattle’s 1887 press was full of land speculation and railroad hype, a quiet labor dispute reveals how maritime workers fought back against predatory rooming house keepers who swindled sailors out of their hard-earned pay.
- The Price of a Mill Hand's Life
An anonymous laborer exposes the exploitative wage practices of the Puget Mill Company, detailing how the firm undercuts competitors by replacing white workers with Chinese laborers at subsistence wages.
- The Con Artist of the Y.M.C.A.
A smooth-talking grifter exploited the goodwill of Seattle churchgoers by playing on his 'sick wife's' needs, until an umbrella heist landed him in the city jail.
- The Wage-Theft Struggle of 1887 Seattle
Working women in the late 19th century fought back against exploitative employers who withheld pay, turning to labor unions to recover their stolen wages.
- The Girl Who Ran Away: A Seattle Hotel Trap and a Lawyer’s Complicity
In May 1882, a 16-year-old runaway from the Puyallup River found herself stranded in Seattle, only to be exploited by a local attorney who deposited her stolen savings in his own name. Chief of Police Woolery intervened, recovering the funds and exposing the legal professional’s unethical conduct.
- The Great Western Land Grab
A federal investigation exposes how massive railroad corporations illicitly claimed hundreds of thousands of acres of public land by exploiting loopholes and keeping government clerks in the dark.