The Machine Behind the Water Bonds
Tacoma laborers are being fired for speaking out against a water plant sale, while reformers fear an election rigged by saloon-bought votes.
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.
An effort will be made on Tuesday in some precincts to prevent illegal voting in favor of the water bonding proposition. Last fall, 800 certificates were bought up and held by one saloon-keeper. He is now working for the sale of the water plant to the city. A member of the local trades organization, which recently flopped in favor of the purchase, says: 'Everything has been bought up, apparently. I have been told men get money to favor the scheme, and I'm told others are being paid. I know several men who ought to be at work, who are running the streets and talking up this job. A man in a humble position does not dare express his views. As for the laboring man, I'm of the opinion that the side that makes the most noise and pulls the strings the shrewdest will catch him.' Every kind of pressure is being brought to bear on men at work for those under the domination of the Light and Water Company to compel them to vote for issuing the bonds. A few days since a laborer in a gang of workmen on the water front, when being paid off, was interrogated as to how he stood on this question. He made the reply that he was against the purchase. The foreman then and there told the recalcitrant that his job was ended, and that the company did not intend to put bread in the mouth of any one who opposed its interests.
“The foreman then and there told the recalcitrant that his job was ended, and that the company did not intend to put bread in the mouth of any one who opposed its interests.”
This 1891 account captures the intersection of corporate lobbying and local political influence in Tacoma's early infrastructure development. The tension between municipal ownership of essential utilities and the power of private contractors remains a cornerstone of the civic debate in the Puget Sound region.
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