The Ghost Legislature: How Congress Strangled Washington's Voice
In January 1893, the territorial assembly convened only to immediately adjourn because Washington had no federal funding for its own government. A local editorial decries this as a farce that leaves citizens paying taxes without representation.
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 legislative assembly of Washington Territory went through the farce of meeting and adjourning on Monday. Three or four members were present, and for lack of a quorum an adjournment was taken for one month.
This proceeding illustrates the disadvantage under which the people of this commonwealth labor. They are American citizens, they are intelligent and orderly, they pay their taxes like other citizens and are subject to military duty but their legislative body cannot meet because Congress has been too busy to permit it to do so. The territorial law provided that the regular legislative session should begin on last Monday. The organic act, however, provides that the legislative assembly shall not meet until an appropriation to cover the expense has been made by Congress, and because such an appropriation has not been made the territorial law is nullified and the representatives of the people of the commonwealth cannot sit.
This indicates what territorial government really is. Is it any wonder that the people of Washington are impatient of their condition? Is it any wonder that they chafe the leading string by which they are now held? Such a government is far from being government by the people.
This 1893 complaint about federal neglect mirrors modern debates over state sovereignty and funding. Just as Washington Territory residents felt held hostage by Congress's budgetary whims, today's states often argue that federal mandates or withheld grants undermine their ability to govern effectively for their citizens.
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