The Water Monopoly’s Stranglehold on Tacoma
Citizens and council members allege that private utilities are spending a fortune to force the city into a predatory buyout.
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.
It is alleged that the Light and Water Company has expended $50,000 since Monday to carry the election in favor of the purchase of their water plant, and that $100,000 more will be spent between now and Monday night. Active politicians who previously opposed the purchase have suddenly flipped, and local newspapers—with one exception—are either silent or openly advocating the deal. Councilman John W. Berry admitted the price asked was $400,000 more than the property was worth, but warned that if the city did not buy, the Northern Pacific Railroad and the local water and land companies would combine to crush the city. A. R. Titlow, a vocal opponent, told a crowded meeting: 'If we allow the corporations to throttle us now, we will never hereafter be able to throw them off. They have you by the throat. Will you obey them or shake them off?' Titlow claimed he had been personally pressured by corporate agents to stop his opposition, but declared, 'They can't make me.'
“If we allow the corporations to throttle us now we will never hereafter be able to throw them off.”
This 1893 fight over the privatization vs. public ownership of essential utilities reflects a perennial tension in the Pacific Northwest regarding corporate influence over municipal governance. The fear that a private entity could 'throttle' the city's future to secure a lucrative exit echoes contemporary anxieties about public-private partnerships and the influence of major developers on local planning.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.