The Railroads Wanted a Senator, and They Worked Olympia to Get Him
A Republican paper accuses John L. Wilson of backing a railroad-friendly bill while transcontinental lines quietly lobby the legislature to send him to the U.S. Senate — and Tacoma's A.P.A. splits over the fight.
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.
One of the ablest Republican papers west of the mountains says that the railroad contest was one of the most important issues before the legislature. John L. Wilson attempted to defend his attitude on the measure by stating that Chairman Morrison, of the committee, in a letter to the chairman of the committee, had argued that the bill contained the following safeguard: 'It gives no control or supervision to the commission which it may... The contract is taken... A pooling contract may bear a very innocent face, simply providing for the division of business or receipts. The inspection might permit the commission, before approving or disapproving a pool contract, to discover nothing that shows any unlawful purpose. All abuses that may come from the aggregated power under such contracts will not be proclaimed in advance. Suppose such a contract is filed, and on inspection nothing appears but an agreement to divide traffic or earnings, and the commission approves it. If it will be needlessly oppressive to the public, what will be the result? The carriers will appeal to the court, which will declare that the contract discloses no unlawful purpose, that the court must presume that railroads, as well as individuals, will respect their lawful obligations, and that the contract shall be lawful.' Notwithstanding the monstrous character of the bill, John L. Wilson voted for it, just as he would vote against any measure designed to build the Nicaragua canal because the railroads are opposing it, for it would save millions of dollars to the state of Washington in freight rates. The railroads have just elected their candidates in Nebraska and Oregon, both attorneys for railroads, and quiet work is being done right here in Olympia by the transcontinental railroads to secure the election of Wilson to the United States Senate. The state of Washington may, in accordance with the governor's recommendations, pass any railroad legislation it chooses, but if the railroads control Congress the legislation enacted in this state will be nullified. During the past week the Tacoma Ledger has attacked President Van Epps, of the A.P.A., because he was opposed to Wilson. A local night meeting of 2,000 members of the A.P.A. was held in Tacoma. Ex-Senator Squire, a Wilsonite, appeared before the meeting with resolutions which submitted the course to attack Van Epps. The latter challenged the A.P.A. to choose between himself and the Ledger. This they did in short order by an overwhelming defeat of the resolution, but the Ledger singularly omits all reference to the fact. The Democrats of the two houses have united on Hoch C. Wallace as their candidate for United States senator.
“Quiet work is being done right here in Olympia by the transcontinental railroads to secure the election of Wilson to the United States Senate.”
Then as now, the fight was less about one bill than about who gets to write the rules. A U.S. Senate seat was the prize, and corporate money worked the statehouse quietly; today's equivalents are PACs, lobbyists and dark money, but the geography of influence — Olympia — has not changed. The story also shows how reform movements like the A.P.A. could be pulled into partisan fights they did not choose.
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