A Coal Town Rebellion
Roslyn voters unseat the company-backed mayor, citing mismanagement of public funds in a corporate-run coal town.
Charles Miller was on Tuesday elected mayor of Roslyn over Walter S. Lytle by ten votes. Lytle is the supply agent of the coal company, and the race was close because there is a feeling that there has been mismanagement and the city funds dissipated in some way. During the past year of its corporate existence, Roslyn has collected about $17,000 in the way of taxes, licenses and fines, and yet the treasury is without funds and there is a small debt on hand.
“The race was close because there is a feeling that there has been mismanagement and the city funds dissipated in some way.”
This reflects the historic tension between company towns and municipal autonomy in Washington’s mining districts, where corporate interests often collided with the needs of the working-class residents.
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