The Seattle Post-Intelligencer vs. Aberdeen: A War of Words Over the Chinese Eviction
In November 1890, a fierce public feud erupted between Aberdeen and Seattle when the Seattle paper defended the city's recent expulsion of its Chinese residents, accusing Aberdeen of violence that never happened.
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 Seattle Post-Intelligencer seems to be chiefly occupied at the present time in defending the Chinese and attacking the characters of the citizens who drove them out of Aberdeen. The reports that paper printed in the first instance of the Chinese eviction from Aberdeen were greatly overdrawn and pictured many scenes of violence which never occurred. Of course, Senator Squire's personal organ is at perfect liberty to advocate Chinese labor as much as it pleases, but in pursuance of that policy it is hardly necessary to attack the citizens of Aberdeen, individually and collectively. Aberdeen is a thriving town, as are all the towns of the Grays Harbor country. The Seattle policy, to injure in every possible way every other town in the state except Seattle, is too well known to require comment. Seattle ought not be jealous of the Grays Harbor cities, but from the attitude of its organs it would seem that city on Elliott bay is already fearful lest the Grays Harbor cities pass it in the race for commercial supremacy.
This 1890 editorial reveals how deeply racial exclusion was woven into the economic identity of Pacific Northwest towns. The 'eviction' referenced here was part of a broader regional pattern where Chinese laborers were systematically driven out to protect white wage standards, a struggle that echoes in modern debates over housing affordability and labor rights. The text also highlights the intense civic rivalry between Seattle and emerging Grays Harbor cities, a competition for commercial dominance that shaped the region's development.
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