The Struggle for the Speaker’s Gavel
Legislative chaos in Olympia as Republicans deadlock over the speakership, threatening to delay the inauguration of the new state government.
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.
Olympia, Jan. 8. It is not stating more than the truth to say that more attention was paid here to the speakership than to matters of salvation this Sabbath day. The contest for chair of the house was all day the one great subject of discussion, and when night fell the political atmosphere was not more clear than was the fog-pervaded air that enveloped the Hotel Olympia, where a restless throng continuously crowded the rotunda and in shifting groups planned and smoked and guessed. The question as to whether or not a house Republican caucus would be held was uppermost in the day's discussions. The Mentzer men generally refused to sign the call, though they insisted that their candidate had twenty-five Republican votes. The possibility of a deadlock over the organization of the house has called attention to the weakness of the provision of the constitution requiring the canvass of the vote for state officers to be made by the speaker of the house. A prolongation of the struggle would delay indefinitely the induction of the new state officers, including Governor-elect McGraw.
“The political atmosphere was not more clear than was the fog-pervaded air that enveloped the Hotel Olympia.”
Political gridlock and the maneuvering for power in Olympia remain a hallmark of Washington legislative sessions. Much like in 1893, modern observers often find that the procedural rules governing how we elect our leaders can be just as consequential as the individuals themselves.
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