The Push for Washington Statehood
While Washington Territory eyes the Union, local leaders debate whether to wait for Congress or force the issue.
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 territories are casting eager eyes toward statehood. Montana is preparing to make application for admittance. Dakota is moving in this matter, and soon Utah and Idaho will fall into line. Washington Territory is already ready for admission; we have fulfilled the preliminary steps necessary to precede an act of Congress. We are third on the list of territories in population and growing with amazing rapidity. With over 150,000 people today, we are anxious to have a voice in national affairs. We have a Constitution long since adopted by the people. What is to hinder the election of senators at the coming session of the Legislature? Of course, this would be informal and irregular. But with such credentials and a demand for admission, our chances would certainly be better than if we sit supinely and wait for Congress to act.
“What is everybody's business is nobody's, and if we do not make some sort of special effort Washington Territory will be, so far as statehood is concerned, in statu quo till doomsday.”
Long before Washington became the 42nd state in 1889, territorial residents faced the frustration of taxation without representation. This plea for 'concerted action' reflects a recurring theme in Pacific Northwest history: the anxiety of being a 'ward' of the federal government while the region's population and economy outpaced its political status.
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