The Streetcar Strike Was Only the Beginning
After forcing the Stone-Webster corporation to yield, Everett’s organized labor sets its sights on public control of utilities.
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.
The Stone-Webster corporation today probably realizes there is such a thing as public opinion, for this powerful combination of industrial pirates has had to take a licking. While the people have done what has never been done before in the case of the Stone-Webster corporation—forced it to its knees—don't imagine the company is ready to stay there. This giant octopus has its tentacles reaching into many states and powerful connections in Wall Street. For once, the Stone-Webster people have had a taste of crystallized public opinion, intelligently expressed. Now every move will be made to soothe the public back to slumber land. But there is this difference: the public has had a demonstration of the power of united action. Public control of our water and light systems may become a reality in this city instead of a Utopian vision if the mass of the people will stay on the job. It will be no easy problem to handle. It calls for strong men, not children. Cowards need not apply. But the utility problem can be solved in a sane, practical manner. It rests with the citizenship. Are they equal to the emergency?
“This giant octopus has its tentacles reaching out into many states. It has powerful connections in Wall Street.”
This editorial captures the early 20th-century push for public power and municipal ownership, a debate that remains central to Everett’s civic identity today as residents continue to navigate the cost and control of essential infrastructure.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.