The Rising Voice of Labor in Washington Territory
William Lee, foreman of the Knights of Labor, details a plan to unite farmers and workingmen to challenge the state's political establishment in 1892.
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.
Look out for the Farmers' Alliance and the Knights of Labor in next year's campaign. Encouraged by successes in the east, they propose to combine. Mr. William Lee, a shoemaker who arrived in North Yakima three years ago, is now the worthy foreman of the Knights of Labor in the state of Washington. He suggests that laboring men and farmers are tired of being ignored by the leading political parties. According to Lee, the Knights have 14 local assemblies with a membership of about 1,200, of whom 200 are farmers. Lee insists that they do not expect relief from either the Republican or Democratic parties and plan to nominate their own ticket. Their platform includes the unlimited coinage of silver, lowering interest rates, regulating railroad freight and passenger rates, and passing laws to protect coal miners' lives and health. He also expressed opposition to the ownership of land by foreigners who are not citizens and to the importation of contract labor.
“Our only recourse is to carry the country and get relief from our own hands. We will be strong enough next year to sweep everything before us.”
William Lee’s push for a 'third-party' labor-farmer coalition highlights long-standing struggles over railroad monopolies and resource extraction in Washington. The tension between local workers and out-of-state corporate interests remains a central, albeit evolving, theme in Yakima’s civic history.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.