A Farm Paper Accuses Olympia of Auctioning a Senate Seat
After the 1903 legislature adjourned, The Ranch blasted lawmakers for graft, railroad favoritism, a $3.25 million budget and $125,000 in fair appropriations.
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 state legislature, thank goodness, has adjourned; and the bunco steerers, grafters, sure-thing men, thimble-riggers, jockeys, room clerks, quack doctors and honest men have returned home. It was a busy session. They sold the seat in the U.S. Senate to the highest bidder, profiting much thereby, milked the railroads to a finish on a bluff bill; made gambling a felony except where conducted by the state on the fair grounds, and appropriated over three and a quarter millions of dollars, about one-half of which will be used for running the government, and the rest divided as “swag.” Altogether the legislators have reason to feel proud of their record — we don’t think.
The Ranch again lifts up its voice to protest against the appropriations for the Lewis and Clark Fair and the St. Louis Exposition, because we do not believe the state will get adequate returns from such expenditures. We believe, furthermore, that nine-tenths of the farmers of this state would heartily approve the veto of these appropriations by Governor McBride. We have no axe to grind in the matter, nor any other purpose in mind than that of seeing some effort made to check the extravagant waste of public funds. Three and a quarter millions of dollars will be extracted from the taxpayers to run this little dinky state government during the next two years — and it’s far too much.
The legislature appropriated $75,000 for the St. Louis Exposition and $50,000 to be donated to the Lewis and Clark Exposition. This is $125,000 thrown away, unless that square-jawed governor of ours exercises his veto power.
“They sold the seat in the U.S. Senate to the highest bidder, profiting much thereby, milked the railroads to a finish on a bluff bill...”
In 1903 the U.S. Senate was still chosen by state legislatures, and The Ranch’s charge that Washington lawmakers auctioned their vote was a serious corruption allegation. The 17th Amendment ended that system in 1913, but fights over budget earmarks, fair subsidies and special-interest influence remain recognizable in Olympia today.
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