Farmers Organize Against Corporate Monopoly
King County's Farmers' Alliance moves to combat high freight rates and grain warehouse monopolies through local infrastructure.
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.
The regular quarterly meeting of the King County National Farmers’ Alliance and Industrial Union was held in this city this week to discuss the best possible way of raising the grain elevator proposed to aid the Alliance in Eastern Washington. The Alliance passed resolutions declaring that the creation of a grain elevator on tide water has become an absolute necessity to prevent the wheat growers of Eastern Washington from being utterly robbed of their production by the insatiable flames of the trust, interest-bearing money, excessive railroad freight rates and warehouse charges. The Alliance demands a series of elevators to be built throughout the state for the purpose of protecting the products of the farmers.
“The Alliance purposes watching all who attempt to steal or dishonestly get control of the tide lands of the state of Washington.”
The Farmers' Alliance revolt against transportation monopolies and 'the trust' echoes today's debates about Seattle’s reliance on global supply chains and the control of trade infrastructure. Their focus on tide lands and grain elevators reminds us that Seattle’s physical geography has always been the primary battleground for economic power.
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