The Gas Monopoly and the Hunt Administration
A political war over city franchises and utility prices threatens to lock Walla Walla into a high-cost energy future.
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.
If you want to continue paying three dollars a thousand for gas while the city pays the gas company ten thousand dollars a year for a few sickly arc lights, vote for Gilbert Hunt, who will assuredly do the will of Stockholder Burford in seeing that no competing gas company agreeing to supply gas at $1.50 a thousand is given a foothold in Walla Walla. If Boss Burford insists upon the purchase of half the Thomas ranch for twenty-five thousand dollars in order to enable the First National Bank, which owns the land, to get back its money on an old loan and clear a big profit, he will have his way if Mayor Hunt is reelected.
“If you want to continue paying three dollars a thousand for gas... vote for Gilbert Hunt, who will assuredly do the will of Stockholder Burford.”
Energy and utility costs remain a primary driver of municipal political debate, much like the 1903 struggle over gas franchises. The local reliance on private, high-cost utility providers against public oversight reflects persistent tensions in Washington state civic governance.
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