Ralph Beaumont Takes the Stage
Thousands gather at Pioneer Place to hear a blistering critique of corporate power.
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There were about 3,000 people on Pioneer Place last night to listen to the address of Ralph Beaumont, of Washington City, on the aims and objects of the People's party. Mr. Beaumont spoke for over two and one-half hours and held his audience well, though the rattle of the cars caused him a great deal of annoyance. Beaumont argued that corporations derive their right to exist from the law and are constantly asking for more statutes to give them special privileges to rob and plunder. He referred to the action of the United States Senate and designated that body as the house of lords which was fifty years behind the people in ideas, but 200 years in advance in rascality. He predicted that if things went on as they have been going, the same scenes as the labor eruptions at Homestead and Coeur d'Alene might be witnessed on the streets of Seattle.
“The question is not whether the people are better off than they ever were before, but are they as well off as they ought to be?”
The tension between the working class and the corporate powers described by Beaumont reflects the Populist fervor that would define Washington state politics for the next generation.
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