The Laborer’s Question
A candidate for mayor is put on the spot regarding political litmus tests for city jobs.
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.
Byron Phelps was tendered an ovation when he addressed the First Ward Republican Club in its new hall. When Mr. Phelps appeared before the audience, it seemed as if he inspired them with confidence, and a storm of cheers broke out. Following his address, a hungry-looking man rose and asked: 'In case you are elected mayor of this city, will you ask or allow your subordinate officers to ask a man who wants a job to earn the price of a loaf of bread for his wife and family what his politics are?' There was a painful silence, and the hundreds of laboring men in the hall who had sought work on the sewers but had been refused because of their politics listened attentively. Mr. Phelps answered emphatically: 'No, sir! I have been in the county treasurer’s office five years tomorrow, and never in that time have I asked an employee what his politics or religion were, and I never will as long as I live in whatsoever capacity I may serve the people.'
“I have been in the county treasurer’s office five years tomorrow, and never in that time have I asked an employe what his politics or religion were, and I never will.”
Political patronage in public works was a defining struggle of late 19th-century Seattle. While the specific mechanism of 'sewer jobs' has changed, the tension between municipal hiring practices and equitable access to city opportunities remains a cornerstone of local civic debate.
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