Political Uprising at the Port Townsend Democratic Club
A planned 'indignation meeting' against the local customs collector backfires, leading to a party coup and the removal of the club's president.
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 friends of Collector Saunders rallied in force at the 'indignation meeting' called by the president of the Young Men's Democratic Club last night in Port Townsend. Not only was the collector vindicated from the aspersions cast upon him by disgruntled office seekers, but President Livermore was removed from office. When the meeting was called to order, it was apparent that Collector Saunders's friends were in an overwhelming majority. Nevertheless, Chairman Livermore ordered the secretary to read resolutions denouncing the collector. The secretary declined to read them, and the meeting sustained him. John Trumbull then made a brief address, stating that he deplored the action of the club's officers in exaggerating local party troubles. A resolution was introduced and adopted condemning the president for issuing the call. It was then moved that President Livermore be removed. Livermore refused to put the question, but an appeal was taken and the chair was defeated. Livermore left in anger, and new officers were chosen.
“It was then moved that President Livermore be removed, and that new officers be chosen.”
This reflects the volatile nature of local political clubs in the 1890s, where patronage appointments—like the collector of customs—were the primary currency of civic power. The 'indignation meeting' served as a stage for power struggles that would be instantly recognizable to any modern party organizer.
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