Seattle Rises Against the Northern Pacific
A capacity crowd at Yesler's Hall demands the federal government reclaim unearned lands from the Northern Pacific Railroad Company.
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.
An adjourned meeting of the citizens of King County to discuss the question of terminating the unearned land grant of the Northern Pacific Railroad Company was held at Yesler's Hall last night. The building was crowded to overflowing. Judge Thomas Burke addressed the crowd: 'The question you are here to consider is a very serious one... We are facing a corporation of great wealth, which is vastly unscrupulous and selfish. If it is our purpose to take a bold stand, we must unite as one man.' James McNaught, attorney for the Northern Pacific, attempted to defend the company, citing a telegram from President Robert Harris promising fairness, but the crowd remained steadfast in its push for forfeiture, arguing that the railroad had failed to earn the massive land grants it was holding off the market, impeding settlement and development in the region.
“The American people will stand just so much oppression, after which they will rise up in their might and put down their oppressors.”
This 1884 town hall meeting illustrates Seattle's foundational struggle with corporate monopoly and land speculation. Much like today's debates over developers and public land usage, residents then viewed the hoarding of regional land by an outside railroad behemoth as a direct barrier to the growth of a fair, accessible city.
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