Lake Washington Canal Becomes a Party Platform Issue
Both Republicans and Democrats fight over a proposed ship canal to connect Puget Sound to Lake Washington, turning the infrastructure project into a central campaign issue.
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.
In order that it may be fully understood how far the enemies of King County went to strike a blow at its interests, and how gratuitous was the manner in which the Democratic state convention launched the Lake Washington canal into politics, we reproduce the planks on the subject of public improvements in the platforms of the two parties. The Republican platform explicitly commends as worthy of the attention of congress the Columbia river, the harbors of the Pacific coast, and a ship canal connecting Puget Sound with Lake Washington, while condemning the Democratic refusal to provide appropriations. The Democratic plank, conversely, singles out the Lake Washington canal as the only improvement in all this state worthy of condemnation, effectively making it a political issue.
“The Democratic plank... singles out the Lake Washington canal as the only improvement in all this state worthy of condemnation, and by thus singling it out makes it a political issue.”
The Lake Washington Ship Canal, completed in 1917, remains a defining feature of Seattle’s geography, yet its path was paved with decades of fierce political bickering. Much like today’s major infrastructure debates, local projects were frequently hijacked by partisan maneuvering and regional rivalries between Seattle and Tacoma.
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