The Seat of Government Stays Put
The Supreme Court of Washington Territory voids legislative attempts to relocate the capital from Olympia to Vancouver.
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.
This is a grave and important question. The issue arises by virtue of certain acts of the Territorial legislative assembly, passed at the sessions of 1860 and 1861. There is no dispute as to any discrepancy between the printed and the enrolled laws. The first of these acts—which would have relocated the seat of government to Vancouver—is born without date, without an enacting clause, and without paternity. Consequently, this Court is placed in the position of finding out where the seat of government is. The Organic Act, called with emphasis the Constitution of the Territory, confers only on the Legislative Assembly the power to 'change' the seat of government, not to 'permanently locate' it. Furthermore, a second act invited the voters of the Territory to express their choice. The majority of the votes cast were in favor of Olympia. In a doubtful case, the Court is in favor of giving the benefit of the doubt to the people, instead of giving it to their servants. Therefore, the seat of government remains at Olympia.
“In a doubtful case, therefore, of the kind which this legislation presents, a majority of this Court is in favor of giving the benefit of the doubt to the people, instead of giving it to their servants.”
In 1862, the Supreme Court of Washington Territory ruled that Olympia would remain the capital, effectively ending a long-running legislative feud. Today, the debate over Olympia's suitability as a capital occasionally bubbles up in political discourse, echoing these early structural tensions over where civic power should reside.
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