The Candidate Who Refused to Promise a Bridge
Running for representative, Gordon C. Moores argues that effective legislation requires compromise rather than the 'hobby-riding' log-rolling that clutters the statute books.
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.
When asked as to what he hoped to accomplish as representative from Benton county, should he be successful at the primary and general elections, Gordon C. Moores, republican legislative candidate said: 'Since filing a declaration of my candidacy I have met with not a few surprises, the greatest of which is the exaggerated idea that some people have of the relative importance of the office. There is a tendency on the part of some people to forget that in addition to the gentleman from Benton county, there will be a lot of other gentlemen from other counties who have been returned to the legislature session after session. I shall carry with me to Olympia no inflated ideas of my importance. I am not seeking to ride into office on any hobby. The hobby-rider who has gone to the legislature with his own pet measure tucked under his arm has been responsible for more fool, freak, and costly legislation than any other one cause. It is evident, therefore, that I cannot, as a rival candidate is doing, promise to bring back a bridge and set it across the Columbia river between Kennewick and Pasco. I do not believe there is sufficient traffic at this time to warrant the building of a bridge. Of infinitely greater importance to the people of Benton county at this time than an appropriation for a bridge is the enactment of a just and practical water code to determine the rights of the people to the use of water for irrigation.'
“The hobby-rider who has gone to the legislature with his own pet measure tucked under his arm has been responsible for more fool, freak and costly legislation than any other one cause.”
Moores’ platform reflects the perennial tension between infrastructure demands and the pragmatism of state-level funding. His focus on water rights echoes the ongoing struggle for water security that still defines the political landscape of the Tri-Cities today.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.