Tacoma’s Open Letter to the Railroad Monopoly
A scathing council memorial accuses the Northern Pacific Railroad of breaking its promises, stalling city growth, and holding the harbor hostage.
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 memorial following was introduced in the Tacoma City Council by Mr. John E. Karat at the meeting of that body on Wednesday last, and it was duly referred to a committee. The memorial and petition of the Common Council of Tacoma to the Northern Pacific Railroad Company states: Whereas, the city of Tacoma has been largely built upon lands purchased from said company under contracts with obligations of forfeiture in case of non-improvement, thus creating the bulk of the present city. Whereas, the city has vacated many valuable streets for the benefit of said company upon the understanding that they were to be improved, yet much of this land is still filled with stumps and used only as a cow pasture. Whereas, the practical closing of the car and machine shops has rendered many citizens hopelessly idle during the worst season of the year. The removal of all the company’s officers to Portland, the exclusive ownership and refusal to sell the water front, and the failure of construction on the Cascade division are detrimental to our growth. The council respectfully urges the company to remove its officers from Portland to Tacoma, grant the city right of way to the water front, immediately begin terminal improvements and employ 2,000 white laborers, and commence continuous construction from Tacoma eastward.
“The city of Tacoma... has been built with so far comparatively little aid by the said company, stimulated by it and induced thereto by its promises... making it in fact, what it is only yet in theory, their Western Terminus.”
In 1884, Tacoma residents were already fighting the 'company town' dynamic where Northern Pacific controlled their infrastructure and harbor. This struggle for municipal control over waterfront access and corporate accountability is a direct precursor to modern debates about the power of global corporations in Seattle's current development landscape.
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