Mukilteo Workers Refuse Japanese Labor
A town committee clashes with the Crown Mill company over the employment of Japanese workers, signaling rising anti-immigrant tensions in the region.
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The report of the committee appointed by the All-American League on their interview with Superintendent Scott, of the Crown Mill company, of Mukilteo, was in substance: 'That he was very well satisfied with the work done by the Japanese, and intended to retain them as long as the mill stood, and that he did not consider that the people of Mukilteo had any right to dictate as to who he should employ, and that if the mill was not wanted in Mukilteo, the company would move it elsewhere.' The committee voiced the sentiments of the people when they replied, 'They would rather see the mill moved away than to be run under the present system.' The president, Mrs. S. E. Wetstein, not being daunted by this report, but with greater determination than before, is negotiating for the largest hall in Everett in which to hold another anti-Japanese mass meeting.
“They would rather see the mill moved away than to be run under the present system.”
This reflects the volatile history of the Pacific Northwest in the early 20th century, where organized labor movements frequently intertwined with exclusionary racial politics. It is a stark reminder of the organized campaigns that pushed for the segregation and displacement of immigrant workers in Snohomish County.
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