The Bitter Rivalry Between Tacoma and Seattle
A powerful committee of Tacoma businessmen lobbies state leadership to ensure no support is given to Seattle or local Republican candidates aligned with the city.
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.
Tacoma, Oct 28 - A committee, the very essence of the 'Seattle-haters,' this afternoon called upon Chairman P. C. Sullivan of the Republican state committee and demanded that the committee shall not interfere in the fight being made by Tacomans upon Seattle and Hon. John H. McGraw. The committee included representatives from the St. Paul and Tacoma Lumber Company, the Tacoma Land Company, and the Northern Pacific Railroad. As the committee marched down Pacific Avenue, it was remarked that it would be impossible to select another committee in the city which would more thoroughly represent the corporate interests attempting to crush Seattle. They threatened to refuse support to the Republican state ticket if their demands were not met, marking a move considered a gigantic game of bluff to control state politics.
“It was remarked as the committee marched down Pacific avenue, before its mission was known, that it would be impossible to select another committee in the entire city which would more thoroughly represent the Tacoma corporation interests which are attempting to crush Seattle.”
The late 19th-century 'Seattle vs. Tacoma' rivalry was a intense period of civic warfare, driven by competing rail terminals and land speculation. Today's regional cooperation in the Puget Sound area makes these overt political 'hatred' campaigns seem like a relic of a more cutthroat era of infrastructure development.
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