Workingmen Open a People’s Forum—and Hear That Olympia Sits on a Volcano
Two hundred residents packed Columbia Hall for the first of a series of public-question meetings, where speakers warned of hard times and one declared the city was on the edge of an eruption.
The first of a series of meetings in this city to discuss public questions assembled last night at Columbia Hall. Upwards of two hundred persons were present, many of them workingmen. Thomas J. Miller called the meeting to order. J. M. Swan was elected chairman and Adam Geddes secretary.
Rules for the government and naming it the “People’s Forum” were adopted, after which the temporary organization was made permanent with the addition of a vice chairman, Thomas J. Miller.
Olaf B. Frisch moved that the Forum meet on the first and third Friday evenings of each month. James Lane wanted a meeting every week, but Mr. Frisch’s motion was carried.
Speeches were made by Attorney David Baily, Attorney Byron Millett, Rev. Napoleon Hoagland, Attorney M. A. Root, Dr. Ostrander, Mr. Thomas J. Miller and Mr. Olaf Frisch. The latter said there was no need to go to Europe for suffering. It could be found in Olympia. “Few people,” said the speaker, “realize that we are on the edge of a volcano which will soon burst, and then God help rich and poor alike!”
After making this remarkable statement about the volcano, Mr. Frisch said he wanted more people to settle in the country around Olympia.
Mr. Frisch moved that a committee of five on funds be appointed, as the hall, although it was their own, had to be paid for at the rate of $3 per night. The former committee on arrangements was continued for the purpose of raising funds and selecting speakers.
On motion of Mr. Miller the daily papers were thanked for printing the call, and the meeting adjourned until the first Friday in May.
“Few people realize that we are on the edge of a volcano which will soon burst, and then God help rich and poor alike!”
In 1892, with financial panic gathering and unemployment rising, Olympia’s workingmen turned a lodge hall into a recurring civic forum. The “volcano” warning sounds overheated until you remember that the Panic of 1893 was only a year away. The mix of economic anxiety, public meetings, and demands that the prosperous explain themselves still feels recognizable.
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