The 1914 Ballot: Restricting Alien Land Ownership
Voters face a pivotal constitutional amendment determining if non-citizens can own property within municipal borders.
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.
To be voted on November 3, 1914: 'An amendment of section 33, article 2 of the state constitution, enabling alien residents of this state to acquire by purchase and hold lands lying within municipal corporations, and providing for the escheat of such lands to the common school fund in case the owner thereof becomes a non-resident of the state for a term of five years.' The amendment prohibits land ownership by aliens, other than those who in good faith have declared their intention to become citizens, except in specific cases of inheritance or debt collection. However, it provides an exception for resident aliens owning land within municipal limits, with the caveat that if they leave the state for five years, the land vests in the common school fund.
“Every corporation, the majority of the capital stock of which is owned by aliens, shall be considered an alien for the purpose of the inhibition.”
This 1914 measure reflects the era's aggressive nativist policies regarding land rights, which specifically targeted Asian immigrants in Washington. Today, the conversation around foreign land ownership persists, though the legal focus has shifted from exclusionary citizenship requirements to broader debates over national security and corporate land holdings.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.