The Fight Against Hired Guns
A proposal at the constitutional convention seeks to ban the use of private armed guards like the Pinkertons in Washington state.
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.
No proposition which has been introduced in the constitutional convention has been, or should be, received with greater favor than that of John K. Kinnear to prevent the use of armed companies of men in the state of Washington. In recent years a custom has grown up in this country of organizing private armies to be hired out to the highest bidder in any case of labor trouble. These men are generally known as Pinkerton detectives. They are usually hired by mine owners or railroads whenever their property is threatened, or they think it is threatened. It is time for this practice to be broken up. The state of Washington should be able and willing to furnish all needful protection to life and property within its borders without the assistance of armed guards of any description.
“The state of Washington should be able and willing to furnish all needful protection to life and property within its borders without the assistance of armed guards.”
This reflects the volatile labor history of the Pacific Northwest, where private security firms often acted as enforcers against early unions. The concern over state-sanctioned vs. corporate-controlled violence remains a pertinent critique of policing.
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