The 'Business Campaign' at the Lyceum
Tacoma Republicans rally for Mayor Campbell as the 1904 municipal election heats up, pitting 'stability' against the opposition.
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 Lyceum theater was packed last night for a high-energy Republican ratification meeting. Chairman C. S. Barlow opened the floor for speakers including C. O. Bates, J. M. Ashton, and Mayor Campbell. Bates framed the municipal election as a 'business campaign,' praising Chief of Police Fackler for his record of convictions. General J. M. Ashton urged the crowd to choose between continued progress and the 'party of negation and failure,' specifically warning against corporations and grafters. E. E. Cushman defended Mayor Campbell’s four-year tenure, dismissing criticisms of his bank failure as honorable conduct and attacking his Democratic opponent, Mr. Wright, as an unknown quantity. Mayor Campbell concluded the evening by vowing to protect the city from street railway influence and the Stone & Webster combine, while asserting that Tacoma's regulation of vice was sufficient for any citizen.
“We ask you to vote for Mr. Campbell and others on the Republican ticket because we know them. We ask you not to vote for Mr. Wright because we do not know him.”
This 1904 rally highlights the perennial struggle in Tacoma over corporate influence in local government and the role of 'business-minded' mayors. The tension described—between maintaining an administration that is 'tried and true' and the desire for change—remains a staple of local civic discourse.
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