Precinct Politics and Dirty Tricks
A look at the chaotic and sometimes fraudulent methods used to select delegates for the upcoming Democratic county convention in Seattle.
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.
An insight into the methods by which the delegates to the Democratic county convention were elected is obtained from the facts as to the Franklin and Newcastle delegations. At Franklin a man named Barns, a bartender, and Frank Maltby held a caucus at which they alone were present and elected themselves and J. A. Coleman delegates. Maltby is a resident of Seattle and not of Franklin and is not a voter, being an unnaturalized Canadian. He is said to have been induced by W. E. Crews to get himself elected in Crews' interest. Coleman is also a resident of this city, so that he is not a voter in Franklin precinct. At the caucus at Newcastle which elected delegates only six persons were present. Ham Adams, one of the delegates, openly declared afterward that he was a Republican and would vote the Republican ticket.
“Ham Adams, one of the delegates, openly declared afterward that he was a Republican and would vote the Republican ticket.”
The reporting of neighborhood-level political manipulation—where non-residents and political opponents participate in local caucuses—shows that the 'machine' politics and shady local conventions were as prevalent in 1892 as they are sometimes rumored to be today.
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