1914 Ballot: Noncitizen Residents and City Land Ownership
Voters are asked to decide if resident aliens should be allowed to own land within municipal corporations.
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.
At the general election on November 3, 1914, Washington voters will decide on an amendment to Section 33 of Article 2 of the state constitution. The current law prohibits land ownership by aliens unless they have declared an intent to become citizens, with some exceptions for mining. The amendment would allow resident aliens to own land within city limits, provided that if the owner becomes a non-resident for five years, the land vests in the common school fund. This measure seeks to define the scope of alien property rights in the state.
“The ownership of lands by aliens, other than those who in good faith have declared their intention to become citizens of the United States, is prohibited in this state.”
This reflects the period's intense exclusionary politics and the legal hurdles placed before immigrants in Washington. While presented as a civic matter of land tenure, it was a central mechanism for controlling who could gain a foothold in the state's growing towns.
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