Spokane’s Thunder: Four Thousand Voters Demand John L. Wilson Be Retired
A petition drive in Spokane turns the U.S. Senate fight into a referendum on silver and railroad pooling—and boosts George Turner as the people’s choice.
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.
SPOKANE, Jan. 22.—The mighty protest against Wilson now has more than 4,000 signatures of bona fide voters of the county. In this city nearly the entire voting population has signed it. Since the public has more clearly understood that it was a direct drive at Wilson, it has been much easier to secure names than it was in the beginning. More than 1,000 new signers were obtained today, and the lists were sent forward to Olympia.
Labor leaders continue to denounce Wilson for his vote on silver and, more particularly, for his support of the railroad pooling bill. Of 4,000 names only one man has changed his signature, and it turns out that his name was put in through error in copying.
The following statement is made by several citizens who circulated anti-Wilson petitions: “We, the undersigned circulators of the anti-Wilson petition, certify that more than 40 per cent of the citizens interviewed by us signified their emphatic condemnation of John L. Wilson’s record on silver and the railroad pooling bill, and expressed an earnest wish that he be retired from public life.” Signed by C. E. Warn, W. H. Lewis, A. W. Sanborn, E. T. Steele, A. W. Wegner, B. Arnold and G. D. Jones.
The Spokesman-Review says the Spokane delegation has decided to present to the legislature, acting as a unit, the name of Hon. George Turner of Spokane. The paper calls Turner “the true choice of the people” and says his election may quickly follow.
“expressed an earnest wish that he be retired from public life.”
The anti-Wilson petition was an early local pressure campaign aimed at a Senate selection—before voters could choose senators directly. It framed railroad power and money in politics as the central issue, a rhyme with modern debates over corporate influence and accountable representation.
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