The First Ward Fights Back
Citizens of Seattle's First Ward protest their diminished representation in the City Council, asserting their right to full political standing.
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.
Residents of the First Ward have been slow to arouse to the enormity of the outrage attempted upon them in the Legislative apportionment of the members of the City Council. They were stunned, as it were, by the violence of the unexpected assault, and for a fortnight could not realize that it was actually intended. They are now coming to their senses, and begin to assert their rights in a manner which others must respect. At the last municipal election more votes were cast in the First Ward than in either of the other two wards, and it is not to be doubted that at any general election it could cast more votes than either of the other two, and good, honest votes at that. The First Ward is entitled to its three members.
“They are now coming to their senses, and begin to assert their rights in a manner which others must respect.”
Civic representation remains a point of contention in modern Seattle, where debates over district versus at-large council seats still mirror the 1883 desire for residents to have a direct, proportional voice in their municipal government.
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