Seattle Nearly Buys Its Canal, One Subscription at a Time
With $21,181 left to raise, the $500,000 Lake Washington Waterway fund is within reach — bankrolled by saloon keepers, a fireman and a hospital sister's $150.
Subscriptions to the $500,000 subsidy for the Lake Washington Waterway Company stood at $478,819 last night, leaving $21,181 to be secured before the fund can be closed.
The Liquor Dealers' Association, whose members have been steady contributors, added $1,500 yesterday, bringing its total list up to $30,000. The day's returns amounted to $7,700. Members of the committee who have been out soliciting say they hold notes they will turn in today, and they hope the public will come forward and make up the deficiency so that the subsidy may be closed within the time proposed.
The Sister Superior of Providence Hospital sent in her note for $150 with the following kind letter:
"Seattle and Washington Waterway Company: Gentlemen — I send you the enclosed with my best wishes for the success of your great enterprise, and regret very much that I cannot contribute more. Yours truly, Sister Eugenie, Superior, Providence Hospital."
A. C. Phillips of Port Townsend sent in his subscription, and W. J. Hayter, a member of the Seattle fire department, sent in his. Members of the committees selected to appraise the notes have expressed surprise at the small proportion of them that can be classed as doubtful, for nearly all the pledges have come from people who can give ample security.
The committee appointed at the request of the Mississippi Valley Trust Company of St. Louis has had several meetings and has examined a large part of the subsidy. A portion of it is necessarily of somewhat uncertain value and will not be paid when all the conditions have been complied with. The problem the committee has to solve is what proportion should be charged off in justice to all parties. It has come to the conclusion that about four per cent will be a fair allowance, which will necessitate raising an additional amount to make up that percentage of loss. The sooner the money is in the sooner the work of construction can begin.
“I send you the enclosed with my best wishes for the success of your great enterprise, and regret very much that I cannot contribute more.”
This is the subscription drive that eventually produced the Lake Washington Ship Canal, the Ballard Locks and the Montlake Cut, opened in 1917, and it was financed the Seattle way: a private committee shaking down saloon owners, firemen and a nun for pledges. The appraisal paragraph is the tell — a few percent of any big civic fund is quietly written off as doubtful, then made up by someone else. Modern megaproject coalitions still run on exactly that arithmetic.
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