The Partisan Brawl of 1862
A scathing editorial laments the Olympia legislature's refusal to pass loyalty resolutions, accusing lawmakers of secret disloyalty to the Union cause.
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.
The legislature has adjourned after sixty days. We have not been furnished with a list of acts passed, but judging from the atmosphere, the most extraordinary feature was the personal strife. We are sorry that one distinguished gentleman could not have avoided the war upon the University, which resulted in much personal ill-will. Most disreputably, the legislature refused to endorse the Administration in its efforts to put down the rebellion, rejecting Mr. Griswold’s resolutions in the House by a vote of sixteen to eight, and in the Council, five to three. We had supposed a majority of both houses were Union men, but this vote must dispel doubt of their true character hereafter. Those who voted against the resolutions will be regarded as disloyal at heart and, unless their constituents sympathize in their treasonable course, will never again be trusted to represent them.
“Those who voted against the resolutions will be regarded as disloyal at heart and, unless a majority of their constituents sympathize in their treasonable course, will never again be trusted to represent them.”
This editorial captures a period of intense political polarization in Washington Territory during the Civil War. It mirrors today's debates where civic loyalty and partisan identity often override legislative compromise, turning city halls and state houses into battlegrounds for national ideological conflicts.
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