The Czar of Russia Would Not Dare
A Seattle city councilman publicly lashes out against the Territorial Legislature's overreach in appointing local officials without popular consent.
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.
To the Hon. Henry Miles, Chairman of the Committee on Corporations: Dear Sir—I understand that your committee has in its hands Council Bill No. 51, amending the Charter of the City of Seattle. Some three months ago the City Council appointed a committee, of which I was chairman, to recommend charter changes. We prepared amendments with the Mayor's assistance, but in the bill now before your committee, several serious changes have been made. Section 37 provides that your Honorable Body appoint two additional Councilmen for our City Government, and they are named in the bill. As a citizen and Councilman, I protest: there is no necessity for additional councilmen until the next general election. The people whom such councilmen are to represent should have had some voice in their selection. I respectfully ask that the people of Seattle have the same privilege of selecting their councilmen as the people of Washington Territory have of selecting their own town officers. An exercise of power that the Czar of Russia would not dare to assume. - C. M. BASH, Member of the City Council.
“An exercise of power that the Czar of Russia would not dare to assume.”
The tension between local municipal autonomy and the broader power of the state (or territory) remains a core theme in Seattle politics today. This 1883 complaint echoes contemporary debates over how much control Olympia should exert over Seattle’s governance and infrastructure.
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