The Sudden Call for a Mass Meeting
Local property owners protest a suspiciously hurried political meeting held while key citizens were out of town.
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.
There is considerable unfavorable comment over the so-called citizens’ mass meeting the other evening. Why such brief notice should be given of the intention to hold the meeting, or why it should be rushed forward when many citizens and property-holders are away, has not been explained. There was no need for hurry, as there was more than a week’s time in which to file the nominations, and twenty days before the election would take place. An encampment of the G. A. R. and Sons of Veterans, at Puyallup, had taken from fifteen to twenty good citizens away on the very day of the meeting and previous to their having any knowledge of it, while a strong delegation of heavy property holders were at Olympia. It certainly would look as though some consideration should be shown them and that no snap judgment should be taken during their absence.
“It certainly would look as though some consideration should be shown them and that no snap judgment should be taken during their absence.”
Tactical scheduling of public meetings to influence local government decisions remains a common frustration for citizens involved in municipal politics today.
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