Populists Assemble to Shake the Foundations of State Politics
Delegates from fourteen counties descend on North Yakima for a secretive, high-stakes convention to overhaul state laws and challenge corporate power.
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North Yakima has been entertaining reformers during several days of this week. The convention met on Tuesday with some thirty or forty delegates present and fourteen counties represented. The sessions were behind closed doors, but it is known that the state association adopted the St. Louis platform and a set of resolutions denouncing the action of the present congress, the common school system—which they argue places a disproportionate tax burden on producers—and the exorbitant tariffs imposed by railways. The movement also moved to control the reform press of the state, designating the Industrial World of Spokane as their official organ. Tensions flared when the railroad company refused to honor reduced return fares for the delegates, leading to a standoff between the organizers and the transit monopoly.
“If the Farmers Alliance and Industrial Union could get into power that there would be such an overhauling of present laws and methods as would rattle the dry bones of the old parties.”
This 1892 gathering of the Farmers Alliance captures the early surge of Populism in Washington. The delegates' grievances regarding railroad monopolies and inequitable tax burdens echo current debates in Yakima County regarding land use and infrastructure control, proving that struggles over the 'growth machine' have deep roots in the valley.
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