The Scandal of the Agricultural College Commission
A heated investigation into alleged corruption and secret deals involving former Washington state officials and the site selection for the new state college.
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The situation over the agricultural college deal grows more interesting daily. C. P. Chamberlin, the Whitman county granger, claims that Laughton’s connection with the college deal was infamous and that collusion between Conover, Black, and his excellency will be easily proven. Chamberlin alleges that Governor Laughton had pressured commissioners to vote for Pullman as the site of the agricultural college. When asked if Miss Denton, the governor's stenographer, spoke the truth when she intimated that Chamberlin had been eavesdropping on the commission, Chamberlin labeled the story infamously false, originating from Laughton himself. The investigation into whether state officials sold senate committee chairmanships and manipulated college siting continues to roil the state’s political landscape.
“I understand the man thoroughly and have for him nothing but contempt. If he were to lift a hand against me, I know well how to silence him.”
The fierce political battle over the siting of Washington State University (then the agricultural college) in Pullman remains one of the state's most pivotal early civic debates, mirroring modern concerns over public funding and regional political favoritism.
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