The Constitutional Fears of a Growing Territory
As Washington prepares for statehood, editorial warnings emerge that restricting capital and corporate investment could paralyze the region’s economic momentum.
The story, cleaned up
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From such observations as may be made at this distance, it appears that the constitutional convention is starting at a rate that will not admit of finishing its work in time to submit the document to the people and give proper notice for an election. One thing has appeared from the beginning: too many of the members are playing for a return to the first legislature of the state. This subtle arranging for the future leads many to avoid certain important questions for fear of working themselves in the direction of apparently favoring capital or corporations. To those who have been watching the growth of this territory, it is clear enough that restriction of privileges to capital is precisely what we do not want. The mortgage tax law and other adverse legislation in Oregon sent capital into this territory, which has prospered beyond all territorial precedent. Capitalists are on the ground surveying, but there is a momentary halt, fearing the constitution will make it impossible to legislate in favor of the projects that are necessary to build railroads and other large works. The only hope is that the retrogressive tendency may be checked before the constitution shall have been encumbered by anything mischievous.
“The only hope is that the retrogressive tendency may be checked before the constitution shall have been encumbered by anything mischievous.”
This editorial captures the anxiety of a frontier society balancing between populist mistrust of 'monopolies' and a desperate need for external capital to fuel infrastructure. It serves as a precursor to the modern tension between regulating corporate development and incentivizing economic growth in rapidly expanding regions like the Yakima Valley.
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