A Political Dispute Over Railroad Taxes
A legislative records search settles a political feud between C.H. Warner and his critics.
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.
C.H. Warner, a shining light of Eastern Washington Democracy, has written the Walla Walla Journal in reply to a communication that appeared in this paper a few weeks ago. Warner wrote: 'I have noticed in some of the papers a statement that I voted and worked for the bill taxing the gross earnings of the railroad. It seems strange to me that such assertions should be made, when, in fact, I fought the measure from first to last; spoke twice against it, and used every effort in my power to defeat it.' A correspondent for the Post-Intelligencer investigated the record and found on page 202 of the House Journal that C.H. Warner voted against the railroad tax bill. The correspondent concluded: 'Mr. Warner will make a good Democratic candidate; Mr. Kuhn will not.'
“I have one of those who believe in the rights of the people first, and that corporations deriving their power from the people should be subservient to the will of the people.”
This 1884 squabble over taxing railroad revenue highlights the perennial power struggle between corporate interests and public policy in Washington State. It serves as a reminder that political 'fact-checking'—using public records to clear one's name against rumor—has been a staple of civic discourse for over a century.
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