Socialist Party Launches Municipal Ticket in Everett
Challenging the two-party status quo, local labor figures organize for a city-wide campaign based on collective ownership.
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.
Undismayed by the signs of political activity displayed by the two old parties, the Socialists of the city held a convention on Tuesday, October 5th, and nominated mayoralty and councilmanic candidates. For mayor, Albert Payne, lineman. Councilman candidates include Dr. Walter S. Keyser, Otto J. Amundson, W. K. Tibbets, Harry Collins, F. W. Phillips, Charles J. Solie, and Frank S. Putney. The platform committee, including Charles Albert Payne, Albert Roeder, Alvin B. Davey, W. W. Smith, and J. K. Tibbets, stated: 'Our object is to establish a system of industry under which the workers will collectively own the means of production and distribution and operate them for use instead of for profit.'
“The working class, who produce all wealth, are exploited to enrich the capitalist class.”
The 1909 Socialist municipal campaign reflects a historical moment when Everett was a hotbed for radical labor politics. This local third-party push against the 'two old parties' mirrors modern electoral frustrations with institutional political stagnation.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.