Drafting Washington’s State Constitution
As the Constitutional Convention approaches its one-month mark, delegates race to finalize the blueprint for the future state, balancing high-minded debate with emotional politicking.
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.
OLYMPIA, Aug. 4.—The constitutional convention has been in session precisely one month, and it has prepared the greater part of the organic law of the future state of Washington. The last week was more fruitful of actual results than any twelve days heretofore. The executive department, military affairs, and municipal indebtedness have been wholly disposed of. A long and somewhat tedious debate ensued over the preamble, from which mention of the Deity had been purposely omitted; it ended in the complete rout of the heretics and the triumph of the hosts of the Lord. An amusing scene was enacted when the section providing for a soldiers' home was reached; delegates vied to declare themselves friends of the old soldier, and Griffith actually wept crocodile tears when he spoke of their privations. Buchanan, the monitor of the convention, was so outraged by this legislative impropriety that he entered a protest and wept tears of anger.
“Griffith actually wept crocodile tears when he spoke of the privations of the old soldier.”
The 1889 Constitutional Convention was a crucible of political maneuvering that defined Washington's governance. The performative 'friend of the soldier' debates highlight how political theater in Olympia has remained a constant feature of Washington legislative life for over 130 years.
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