The Governor’s 'Health' Trip to California
An editorial questioning whether Governor Ferry's convenient absence from the state was truly medical or a calculated political maneuver to avoid accountability.
The historic 'I am the state' might be applied to the present executive of the state of Washington, if he be measured by his own standard, for his every act seems to be an additional expression of his belief in his gubernatorial supremacy. The governor is not physically strong, which in some instances at least has proved of great advantage to him, politically speaking. For instance, how convenient it was for him to hie off to California for his health, when, as subsequent events have indicated, it was his political, not his physical, welfare that mainly benefited by the change in climate. Governor Ferry probably did not care to take upon himself the responsibility for allowing certain bills to pass or vetoing others. He doubtless expected that the railroad legislation would be a paramount question with the second legislature, and he may not have cared to appear on record either as favoring or opposing such legislation. By a trip to California, he avoided all the political shoals and the breakers of party strife, leaving others to shoulder the blame for Republican mismanagement and subserviency to corporations.
“For instance, how convenient it was for him to hie off to California for his health, when, as subsequent events have indicated, it was his political, not his physical, welfare that mainly benefitted by the change in climate.”
This 1892 editorial captures the perennial tension in Washington politics regarding the influence of railroad corporations and the suspicion that executives use 'health' or personal absences to dodge contentious legislative fights. It mirrors modern debates about corporate capture and the transparency of state officials.
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