The Price of a Senate Seat
A political operative visits Walla Walla to lobby for a candidate, candidly admitting that securing a U.S. Senate seat in 1903 requires a $300,000 bribe to the legislature.
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.
W. H. Grattan, editor of the 'Week's Work' of Tacoma, is in Walla Walla to lobby for Ed Hamilton, who aspires to the United States Senate seat currently held by Addison G. Foster. Mr. Grattan visited the Statesman office to make his case. 'I called upon Senator Foster before Mr. Hamilton's candidacy was formally announced,' Grattan said. 'I told him that a reelection would probably cost him two or three hundred thousand dollars and that seemed to stump him. He is a little close in money matters and said he could not afford to pay such a price. I showed him he was not very popular and that his staying in the field would jeopardize Pierce County's chances.' Grattan argued that while railroads are playing both sides, Hamilton is well-positioned to win the support of the legislature. When asked how Hamilton would raise the massive sum required to buy the election, Grattan did not say, though it is presumed the railroads will 'pay the freight.'
“I told him that a reelection would probably cost him two or three hundred thousand dollars and that seemed to stump him. He is a little close in money matters and he said that he could not afford to pay such a price.”
This blunt admission of 'paying the freight' for a Senate seat captures the era of the 'Millionaire’s Club' before the 17th Amendment established direct popular election of senators in 1913. Today’s campaign finance battles are more sophisticated, but the core issue—whether the wealthy or the public truly holds the levers of government—remains a defining tension in Washington politics.
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