1893 Olympia Republicans Urged to Elect John L. Allen
As the legislature convenes to choose a U.S. Senator, local factions clash over the candidacy of banker Levi Ankeny versus the incumbent Senator John L. Allen.
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.
The last name mentioned in connection with the senatorial question is Levi Ankeny, of Walla Walla. Mr. Ankeny is a man of eminent respectability and president of the First National bank of Walla Walla, yet it is not claimed that he possesses the qualifications essential to the proper discharge of the duties of a United States senator. If Mr. Ankeny should by any chance be elected, he would owe his election to Miles C. Moore and the faction he represents—a group that has never shown any friendliness to the interests of King county. It is the plain duty of the Republicans of the legislature to elect Senator John L. Allen, who has a strong hold upon the affection of the farmers of Eastern Washington. If loyal men are to be sacrificed to traitors, and an upright public servant sacrificed to the relentless hatred of his personal enemies, then salvation for the party is hopeless.
“If loyal men are to be sacrificed to traitors; if the majority must sacrifice a principle at the dictation of the minority... we must confess that in our judgment its salvation is hopeless.”
The 1893 legislative battle for a U.S. Senate seat highlights a perennial tension in Washington politics: the friction between the growing urban influence of Seattle and the established political machines of Eastern Washington and the rail-dominated interests of Pierce County. The rhetoric of 'King County interests' vs. the rest of the state remains a staple of our civic discourse today.
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