The Boss Who Wouldn't Be King
When Tacoma Democrats tried to draft a reluctant Tom Carroll for mayor, the local political machine collided with the city’s complex web of 'boys,' saloons, and backroom deals.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Political lightning struck Thomas Carroll yesterday. It came in the shape of a handful of admirers who called at Mr. Carroll's home on 6th Street and demanded that he be a candidate for mayor of Tacoma. This move appears to be the result of a growing belief that Alexander Parker—often referred to as 'Two Per Cent'—has been winded before the fight. For several days, Parker's political stock has been on the decline. Men about town and the 'boys' were ready to rally about H. S. Huson, the probable Republican candidate, and so the cry went up for Tom Carroll to win over those with influence reaching beyond their own votes. Opponents have already started attacking Parker for loaning money at 2 percent when he should have bought local real estate, and for his failure to support charitable enterprises. Today, a prominent state official noted that the man who can carry the 'boys' will be elected. Carroll, however, declares he will not allow the use of his name for mayor, citing business reasons, though local whispers suggest he is holding out for a spot on the state ticket instead.
“The man who can carry the 'boys' will be elected.”
Tacoma’s 1892 mayoral race highlights a familiar tension between the 'boys' (the patronage-seeking base) and the technocratic elite. The obsession with a candidate's personal investment in local real estate remains a hauntingly familiar grievance in Puget Sound politics over 130 years later.
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