A New State’s Duty to Its Waterfront
As Washington prepares for statehood, a 1889 editorial warns against allowing private interests to seize control of the public tidelands.
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.
It is notorious that the invasions of the rights of the people here have been, in nearly every instance, without any color of title. And yet, there is an intellectual assent to the fact that by these trespasses, something has been added to the wealth of the community in the development of the resources of the country. This argument for the establishment of right by the commission of a wrong is just the least bit unjustified. The city that can handle its trade with the least friction by the difference of a divided waterfront is the one that will win the race. It ought not to be possible for the waterfront of the city of this state to be in the hands of individuals and be used as a private mill for the purpose of coin collection. It would be well if the constitution put a veto forever upon the disposition of such lands as are so related to the water as to be useful to commerce. Business is very rapidly coming to the condition in which every small margin of advantage is a fact of the utmost importance.
“It ought not to be possible for the waterfront of the city of this state to be in the hands of individuals and be used as a private mill for the purpose of coin collection.”
This 1889 call to protect the waterfront for public utility remains a central tension in Seattle today. Just as early residents fought to prevent 'private mills for coin collection' on the Sound, modern Seattle struggles to balance public access, environmental stewardship, and commercial interest on its historic waterfront.
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