The Price of a Machine Government
Auditor records reveal Whatcom County’s debt ballooned to $600,000, sparking local outrage over fiscal mismanagement and political patronage.
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.
According to the records, the indebtedness of Whatcom County has increased approximately $100,000 since June 30, 1905. And this is true in spite of the fact that the county valuation has been increased millions in the same length of time and the rate of taxation boosted by the machine tax commissioners to a figure out of all reason. On June 30 of this year, Whatcom County was in debt more than $600,000.00, and of this amount all is a warrant indebtedness with the exception of $211,500.00 which stands against the county in the form of bonds. These warrants and bonds all bear heavy interest. This is almost too plain evidence that the Mead machine, dominated by Harry Fairchild, has pursued the same policy in Whatcom County as elsewhere in the state. It would be a sorry thing for the favored few in this county who have had private roads and ditches put into their property at the county's expense if Henry McBride should be elected this fall along with some new commissioners.
“It would be a sorry thing for the favored few in this county who have had private roads and ditches put into their property at the county's expense.”
Financial accountability and accusations of 'machine' politics have been a staple of local civic discourse in Whatcom County for over a century. The frustration over infrastructure spending—specifically who pays for it and whose property it benefits—remains as relevant to today's local tax debates as it was in 1908.
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