A Letter to a Lost Candidate
A ten-year-old girl writes to Hon. H. J. Snively following his election defeat, offering support and expressing the political allegiances of a young Democrat.
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.
Olympia, November 13. Dear Mr. Snively: I am a little girl ten years old, and I want to tell you I am very sorry you were not elected our governor. I hope you will not feel bad about it. Mamma went down and helped decorate the stage the night you spoke in Olympia. I went to hear you speak, and enjoyed it very much. My brother, Lachlan, was your page in the last legislature, and he said you were a good man. I am a good democrat, and Judge Allan’s little girl, my friend, is too. Frost is a democrat. I am glad Cleveland is our president. I hope you will be elected next time. Goodbye. Your little friend, Barbara Mackay.
“I am a good democrat, and Judge Allan’s little girl, my friend, is too.”
This letter captures the early, personal side of political engagement for children, contrasting sharply with the increasingly polarized and distant political discourse of the modern era.
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