The Political Circus of 1908
Local news satirizes the convoluted web of political machines, patronage, and special interest groups fighting for influence in Whatcom County.
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.
Captain Fairchild's prodigy has developed two heads, one has the features of our good governor Albert E. Mead and the other, strange to say, that of a man named Cosgrove. The creature is covered with a big white blanket bordered with gold and labeled, 'Local Option.' It is optional with the sightseer which head he looks at, according to his position, for it is the same creature. To one bunch of people it is a good railroad commission, to another a railroad commission for railroads, to the people of Anacortes a commission to investigate county records, to the anti-saloon men a law banishing saloons, to the saloon man a hunch to keep still. Should one head be bumped off in the conflict of battle at the primaries, the political monstrosity would still live and thrive under the fatherly care of the captain. Will not the wily circus man be greatly surprised when the votes are counted Sept. 8th? All men are not blind men.
“As Abe Lincoln said, 'You can fool all of the people part of the time and part of the people all of the time, but not all of the people all of the time.'”
This critique of 'machine politics' and special interests echoes the modern frustration with lobbyist-driven campaigns. The 'monstrosity' of 1908 serves as a reminder that the tension between opaque political structures and the voting public has been a fixture of Washington life for over a century.
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