The Despair of a Radical Reformer
A disillusioned printer and Populist activist ends his life at his ranch near Union City, leaving behind a letter decrying the lack of sympathy in a money-obsessed world.
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.
A. L. Ferry, a printer by trade and lately a publisher of the Capital, the organ of the Populists in Olympia, committed suicide at his ranch near Union City on April 4. Ferry was an active member of the Unitarian club and an ardent supporter of the People's party. In a letter to his fellow printers, he wrote: 'I have made several attempts to bring my fellow men to a realization of my ideas, but the fact has been made clear to me that there is no sympathy outside the rim of the almighty dollar... There is little hope for humanity and none for me.' He felt that he was not sufficiently appreciated and grew embittered by what he viewed as unjust discrimination in the labor unions.
“The fact has been made clear to me that there is no sympathy outside the rim of the almighty dollar.”
Ferry's mental health crisis, linked to political radicalism and the struggle for economic stability, echoes the intense pressures felt by activists and workers during economic downturns. His focus on the 'almighty dollar' as a social barrier remains a resonant critique in modern Seattle.
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