The Armory Uprising: Seattle’s Battle for Public Transit
As the City Council prepares to vote on a controversial 40-year franchise for private street railways, citizens are mobilizing for a mass meeting at the Armory, demanding municipal ownership over corporate profit.
A mass meeting of the citizens of Seattle, who are opposed to the granting of a 40-year franchise and in favor of the municipal ownership of the street railways, is being arranged for next Saturday evening at the Armory. It is stated that the meeting will be non-partisan, and that Republicans and Fusionists alike will meet and discuss the issues.
J.W. Godwin, the chairman of the committee appointed at the meeting held last Thursday night in the hall of commerce, is busy with preparations, and announced today a partial list of the speakers for the meeting: Judge W.V. Wood, Judge Richard Winsor, Judge V.M. McDonald, H.W. Hein, and Clark Davis. There will be four or five other prominent citizens who will be asked to make speeches.
Councilman John Taylor, Republican, has prepared a statement of the terms of the franchise which proposes to enter into a consolidated system. The gist of it is as follows:
The Madison Street Railway was granted a franchise July 23, 1890, for 25 years. The Seattle City Railway was granted a franchise July 1, 1897, for 25 years. The Seattle and Lake City Railroad was granted a franchise until 1922. The Seattle Electric Company was granted a franchise June 17, 1896, for 25 years. The Seattle Traction Company was granted a franchise October 8, 1894, for 25 years, and on March 31, 1903, this was extended to 50 years from date.
The action of the coroner's Jury in handing down its verdict with the electric disaster of last Monday will commend itself to the public. There is no mincing matters or beating about the bush; the question of blame is laid in plain English. The Jury found that the Grant Street Railway company, through one of its employees, was partially responsible for the catastrophe, and that the Northern Pacific railroad, through one of its employees, was also guilty of contributory negligence. This verdict will have an important effect, not only as regards the payment of damages to the victims of the disaster, but also by warning transportation companies operating in Seattle that they must exercise proper precautions in future.
This 1904 debate over streetcar franchises mirrors modern struggles over public transit funding and privatization. Just as Seattle citizens then rallied at the Armory to demand public ownership of essential infrastructure, today’s residents continue to grapple with who controls our buses, light rail, and fare structures—private entities or the public trust.
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