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418 stories matching initi
- The Petitions Were Honeycombed With Fraud—So Voters Got Referendum No. 3
After the Washington Supreme Court described initiative petitions as a 'house of cards' riddled with fraud, the 1915 Legislature passed a safeguard now before voters as Referendum No. 3.
- A Mass Initiation in Colfax
An unprecedented surge in membership sees the Woodmen of the World initiate thirty-eight new members in a single ceremony.
- The Wet-Dry Tug-of-War: Voters Face Triplicate Liquor Initiative
As Washington state grapples with its new dry status, three competing liquor initiatives challenge the stability of the 1914 prohibition law.
- The Fight Over the Bone Initiative Power Bill
A political war over public ownership of power utilities reaches a fever pitch in Washington state ahead of the November 4 election.
- Everett Labor Leaders Send Aid to Swedish Strikers
The local Trades Council maintains international solidarity while reporting growth in local union membership.
- The Initiative Craze Sweeps the Campaign Trail
Legislative candidates across Washington are hitching their political wagons to initiative measures, but the editor argues they are misrepresenting their own power to the voters.
- The Confusion of the Ballot: Understanding the Initiative and Referendum
Voters struggle to decipher the complex state measures governing lawmaking, recall, and public utilities ahead of the November 7th election.
- The Campaign to Defeat the Eight-Hour Day
As Washington prepares for a series of initiative votes, a new business-backed league emerges to lobby against labor reforms, starting with the proposed eight-hour workday.
- The Battle Over Public Power in Seattle
A new citizens' association forms to oppose Initiative 52, arguing that municipal expansion into private power markets threatens the tax base.
- The Washington–Idaho Line Was Never Quite Where Everyone Thought It Was
A congressional committee moving to re-mark the boundary publishes a surveyor general's confession: the 1873 line zigzagged as much as a degree and a half off course, was measured with link chains, and stopped short when the crew quit to save their own lives.
- The Day Washington State Went Dry
After a hard-fought political battle and a landmark Supreme Court ruling, the state's 1,200 saloons were ordered to shutter their doors as statewide prohibition became the law of the land.
- The 'Nursing Mother's' Temperance War
A leading clubwoman exposes the cynical branding of an initiative she claims would destroy Washington's prohibition laws.
- The Globe-Trotter, the Elks, and the $5,000 Wager
A Boston telegram called Paul Jones a fake. Seattle's own reporting found a Harvard man circling the world on a wager — and turning a paper suit into a sellout lecture.
- Two Offices Hang on a Pile of Double-Marked Ballots
Lawyers spend a full day before Judge Langley fighting over the sheriff's and coroner's seats, as Moyer and Van de Vanter trade technicalities over initials, stamps and hundreds of spoiled ballots.
- The Battle Over Initiative 24
A leading activist warns local women that the 'Brewers' Bill' is a veiled threat to the state's hard-won prohibition laws.
- The Rural Rebellion Against the Eight-Hour Day
Farmers argue that an initiative measure pushed by labor unions would spell ruin for the agricultural industry.
- The Fight for the Ballot Box
A legislative attempt to curb 'professional petition pushers' aims to ensure only legal voters influence state law.
- The Initiative Process Under Pressure
Washington's early experience with the popular initiative leads to court battles as signatures are scrutinized for irregularities.
- The Last-Week Jam in Olympia: Liquor, Primaries and a Budget Nobody Counted
With the 60-day session expiring, Washington's lawmakers settle local option, rewrite the primary ballot, kill the initiative and abandon the joint budget committee — leaving taxpayers to foot a three-mill levy.
- The Lumbermen Who Worshipped a Black Cat
Seattle initiates into the Concatenated Order of Hoo-Hoo, a new fraternal society for lumbermen, complete with black robes, mock titles and a banquet.
- The Peril of the 'Brewers' Bill'
As Washington state votes on prohibition initiatives, one local columnist warns that voters are being misled about the true impact of the proposed 'Brewers' Bill' on state law.
- The Fight for Direct Democracy
Labor journals lobby for the Initiative and Referendum to bypass legislative corruption and ensure the people have the final say on state law.
- The Brewery Bill Comes to Kennewick
Campaigners visit Kennewick to promote an initiative to allow the brewing of beer within Washington State despite Prohibition.
- The Battle for Snoqualmie Falls
A high-stakes legal and land-grab feud erupts over plans to harness the falls for Seattle’s future electrical grid.
- The Stand-off at Puyallup
Railroad graders on the Puyallup reservation refuse to leave, citing their status as citizen-landowners against federal military orders.