The New Order at City Hall
As a new Democratic administration takes control of Seattle in 1892, Mayor J.T. Ronald pledges to end the 'barbarous spectacle' of chain gangs and clean up the city's corrupt contracting practices.
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.
The two branches of the new city council met last night and effected permanent organization. Mayor J.T. Ronald, addressing the council, declared, 'We pledged ourselves to an honest, economical and progressive administration. There should be no cessation of necessary public improvements. Such should be made by day's labor, and the laborers paid weekly in lawful money.' Ronald also criticized the current street maintenance, stating, 'This will afford an opportunity to abolish the barbarous spectacle of the chain gang in competition with honest labor on streets, and put them to work in the city yard breaking or preparing material for paving.' Addressing the city's reputation, he added, 'The location and condition of the district in our city known as Whitechapel is universally admitted to be the most objectionable, and we should without unnecessary delay take steps for its abolition.' The mayor concluded by emphasizing that his administration served the entire city, not just a party, telling his fellow Democrats, 'Not a Democratic mayor, but a Seattle mayor.'
“Not a Democratic mayor, but a Seattle mayor.”
Mayor Ronald's 1892 speech touches on themes that continue to define Seattle politics, specifically the tension between using day labor versus private contractors and the persistent efforts to dismantle 'objectionable' districts like the historic Whitechapel. His insistence on fair pay and the elimination of the 'chain gang' highlights the early labor struggles that paved the way for modern city worker protections.
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