Pierce County Republicans Keep Censure of Canal Backer McGraw
A simmering regional feud between Seattle and Tacoma boils over as Pierce County Republicans move to condemn the proposed Lake Washington ship canal.
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.
A meeting of the Pierce County Republican executive committee was held yesterday afternoon, where an effort was made by a few straight Republicans to rescind resolutions denouncing Mr. McGraw because he is a citizen of King County and believes in protecting the interests of his own home. During the discussion, Mr. Nelson Bennett made a fight for retaining the resolutions, and it seems a successful one, as the motion to rescind them was tabled by a vote of 29 to 11. Mr. Bennett declared he was 'after McGraw' because he favored and took responsibility for the 'ditch.' The people of King County may as well make up their minds that the spirit of Nelson Bennett is the spirit of Pierce County, and that if the interests of King County are to be protected, its people must unite. If the people of King County desire the construction of the Lake Washington canal, it is necessary for them to say so by their votes.
“The people of King County may as well make up their minds... that if the interests of King county are to be protected, the people of King county must unite and protect them.”
The century-long obsession with connecting Puget Sound to Lake Washington eventually culminated in the Ballard Locks, but as this article shows, the project was once a partisan lightning rod. The intense regional rivalry between Seattle and Tacoma—often framed as a battle for economic and political dominance—remains a recognizable undertone in Washington State politics.
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