The 'Wise Men' Choose a Candidate
A closed-door committee of seven selects a business-friendly mayoral ticket in a move to 'run the city like a corporation.'
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 work of art which the seven wise men have been constructing for the last ten days was unveiled to the public at the Citizens' Municipal League meeting at the Chamber of Commerce last night. The candidate for mayor is Herman Chapin, president of the Boston National Bank. Chapin, addressing the crowd, declared the city is simply a large corporation and ought to be run on the same principles. He argued that a man who will not champion a good cause for fear of being beaten is a coward. Other nominees included P. V. Padden for treasurer and H. Willis Carr for clerk. The meeting saw intense debate over whether to delay nominations or proceed immediately, with some members fearing that the 'First Ward heelers' might disrupt the process. Ultimately, the ticket was adopted, and an executive committee was elected to conduct the campaign.
“The office of mayor is one for action and not for speech. I believe that the city should be run by business men, not politicians.”
The rhetoric of running Seattle like a private business is a recurring trope in the city's civic history. This 1894 attempt by the 'Citizens' Municipal League' to professionalize city hall highlights a tension between political parties and 'good government' reformers that continues to define Seattle mayoral cycles today.
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