The Price of Public Care
King County officials weigh competing bids for the medical and basic care of the county's poor in 1883.
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.
At the meeting of the King County Board of Commissioners on February 5, 1883, the Board addressed the necessity of providing support for the county poor. Several bids were submitted for the care of the sick and indigent. The Sisters of Charity of Providence Hospital offered to provide board, lodging, clothing, washing, medicines, and medical attendance for 80 cents per person, per day. Other local physicians, including Drs. Smith and Willard, offered medical attendance at no charge to the county if the Sisters of Charity were awarded the contract for housing, or for 50 cents per day if services were provided to prisoners in jail. John Baken also submitted a bid, expressing a preference for managing the poor at the county farm rather than in Seattle, citing reduced costs. The Board ultimately accepted the bid of the Sisters of Charity, requiring them to manage the county farm and pay $300 for the privilege.
“I am convinced there is far less trouble and expense incurred in running the farm than at Seattle.”
The transition from private-run poor farms to institutionalized public welfare highlights the early struggle to define civic responsibility for the indigent. Modern Seattle’s ongoing debates regarding public health funding and the role of private nonprofits in social services mirror these early administrative tensions.
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