Governor McGraw Denounces the 'Industrial Army'
Washington's governor publicly rejects the march of the unemployed to Washington D.C., calling their movement a threat to law and order.
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.
Gov. McGraw manfully told the 'army' at Puyallup that he was opposed to the Coxey movement, and had not encouraged it by word or deed. No good purpose could come of the proposed journey to Washington City, and he could give them no encouragement. He pointed out to them that the Northern Pacific railway was in the hands of the United States court, and of the practical difficulty of obtaining transportation at reduced rates for any such purpose as that contemplated by the army. Gov. McGraw did his duty as an industrial citizen occupying a high public position, and his words ought to have had some effect upon the honest but misguided portion of that armed expedition. Of course, nobody denies the right of the people of the American people to gather, to hold meetings for the redress of real or fancied grievances, and to petition Congress, but to gather armies to march on the capital to intimidate and compel legislation by threats is to invite revolution.
“To gather armies to march on the capital to intimidate and compel legislation by threats is to invite revolution.”
This piece captures the fierce tension of the 1894 'Coxey's Army' marches, where economic desperation met rigid, property-defending governance. The rhetoric of 'law and order' used here to dismiss the protestors resonates with contemporary debates over how the city treats unsheltered populations and labor unrest.
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