The Senatorial Machine of Seattle’s Banking King
Powerful banker Jacob Furth, whose corporations control Seattle’s streetcars and credit, is positioned to dominate the race for the U.S. Senate through money and influence.
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The crafty figure of Jacob Furth, the well-known millionaire of Seattle, is looming in the background as the senatorial battle of next year begins to take shape. While there is little open discussion of Mr. Furth's name as yet, few politicians will deny their belief that sooner or later Mr. Furth, with his millions and his powerful corporation influences, will be a candidate for senator. Mr. Furth is the strongest individual factor in the Puget Sound business world. He is president of the Puget Sound National Bank of Seattle, the Seattle Electric Company, which controls the street railway system, and the interurban line between Seattle and Tacoma. He is worth over $1,000,000 himself, and represents eastern capital to an extent many times greater. The principal argument for him is that he has the wherewithal to make a senatorial fight, and past experience shows that when he makes up his mind, he is absolutely disregardful of expense. For years he has held the city council of Seattle in the hollow of his hand; nobody has been able to secure anything from that council without him, and his corporations are the largest employers of labor in the city.
“Already divers and sundry politicians can hear the jingle of the ducats, and in fancy they can see Mr. Furth stripped for the senatorial arena.”
Jacob Furth’s influence over early 20th-century Seattle politics via banking and utility monopolies prefigures modern debates over the intersection of private capital and civic governance. The worry that a candidate would use corporate wealth to essentially purchase a senate seat is a perennial concern in American democracy.
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