Seattle Labor Calls the Franklin Mine Inquest a Whitewash
The Western Central Labor Union demands prosecution over the Franklin disaster, saying the men were killed through company carelessness—and votes to press for a permanent labor headquarters.
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 Western Central Labor Union, at its meeting last night, passed resolutions touching on the late Franklin disaster and spent a large portion of the evening adjusting the affairs of the Labor Day celebration. Definite steps were taken toward the erection of a building for labor headquarters, and a committee was appointed to look into the matter and report at a future meeting. It is said that sufficient capital can be secured to erect the same, and that in the near future a building will be erected that will be a credit to the labor organizations of this city.
Expressions of dissatisfaction regarding the coroner’s inquest as to the cause of the recent horror at Franklin were freely made and called forth a resolution, which was unanimously passed, declaring that the inquest was not thorough and determined enough to ascertain the cause; that there was strong evidence that the men were killed through carelessness on the part of the company’s employees; and that it is the duty of the county authorities to make a thorough examination into the causes, so that the guilty parties may be prosecuted and, if possible, made responsible for the support of the bereaved families.
“The inquest was not thorough and determined enough to ascertain the cause.”
When Seattle labor leaders called the Franklin inquest a whitewash, they were insisting that a disaster is never merely an accident when negligence is involved. The same question—who answers for workers killed on the job—still shapes fights over industrial safety and corporate responsibility.
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