The Iron Grip of the Railroad Lobby
Tacoma’s newspaper calls out the Northern Pacific for its historic dominance over city politics and its successful efforts to block competition on the waterfront.
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 Republican convention yesterday revealed once more in a most striking fashion the dominating power of the railroads in politics. The transcontinental lines dictated the defeat of Governor McBride. They prevented any endorsement in the platform of the railway commission scheme. The Northern Pacific in Tacoma, with subservient councilmen at its command, managed in past years to erect a barricade along the waterfront of the city to keep out all other railroads, something which should never have been permitted. The Times does not believe in a complacent acceptance of everything as it comes along.
“They want to be masters instead of servants.”
The struggle between corporate infrastructure and municipal autonomy remains a central theme in Tacoma. Just as the Northern Pacific once physically barricaded the waterfront to stifle competition, contemporary battles over port expansion and industrial zoning continue to shape who controls Tacoma's shoreline.
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