The Great Recall of 1915
Following a grand jury investigation into corruption, Yakima County voters purge their entire Board of Commissioners in a rare and sweeping recall election.
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.
North Yakima, Oct. 6—Yakima County’s three commissioners, Jim Lancaster, William Stahlhut, and J. B. Stuart, were recalled by large majorities in the county's first recall election held today. Proceedings to oust the three county commissioners from office began shortly after May 29, when a grand jury, which had been in session since March 8, submitted a report severely arraigning the commissioners and urging prompt action by the people to recall them from office. Commissioner Muenster, the only one in the city this evening, in reply to a question whether he would contest the result in the courts, said: 'Not on your life; back to the hay for me.'
“Not on your life; back to the hay for me.”
This event was a massive assertion of local civic power, occurring when the recall mechanism was still a potent, newly-exercised tool in Washington politics. It mirrors modern debates about political accountability and the tension between elected officials and local grand juries.
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