The Seattle Armory Convention Fiasco of 1889

It is not to be denied, much as it is to be regretted, that the convention at the Armory was turned into a lamentable farce. The elements represented here, it seems, were too numerous and too diverse for united action, and the convention ended almost as it began, with only one nomination on the general ticket having been regularly made. Mayor Robert Moran was fairly renominated. He will be before the people for re-election with an official record of which he may well be proud and with the endorsement of the largest convention ever assembled in Washington territory. He richly deserves a re-election. For city attorney, the convention seemed to be about evenly divided between Mr. Piles, the present incumbent, and Mr. W. A. Peters; the candidacy of W. H. White Hall took some votes away from the latter and unquestionably prevented his nomination. As between Mr. Piles and Mr. Peters, the preference of the Post-Intelligencer is decidedly for the latter, and if he consents to be a candidate at the polls it will give him its earnest support. Practically, the questions which should have been decided by the convention are referred to the people for action at the polls on Monday. This, to be sure, is somewhat out of the regular way of doing things, but that the voters of Seattle are equal to the task put upon them is not to be doubted for an instant.