The Political Honeymoon of 1889
Four months into the Harrison administration, a Seattle editor reflects on the stability of a presidency that weathered a major international crisis in Samoa.
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 now more than four months since the inauguration of President Harrison. Sufficient time has elapsed to provide a basis for judging the policy and tendencies of his administration and for noting the feeling of the people in regard to it. Thus far, it may be said without fear of exciting controversy, the administration has been a successful one. The critical period of any administration is the first four months of its existence, and through this period, the administration of President Harrison has acted in a manner which must but dismay its enemies and as pleasantly as it did its friends, it has confirmed the confidence of its supporters.
The knotty Samoan question has been handled in a manner which cannot fail to command admiration. Without cant, without hypocritical professions of the "bloody shirt," without inciting a wholesale removal of faithful officials, President Harrison has adhered strictly to the Civil Service law. The treatment of our foreign relations by the administration has been no less brilliant than its treatment of the domestic question. Through the management of President Harrison and Secretary Blaine, our relations with several foreign powers, which had become strained to an degree unequalled since the Civil War, have been resolved. War with Germany over the Samoan question was generally rated as among the possibilities, yet this question has been settled in a manner which sheds new lustre upon American diplomacy.
“The knotty Samoan question has been handled in a manner which cannot fail to command admiration.”
In 1889, Seattle's editorial perspective was obsessed with federal 'diplomatic victories' and the nascent Civil Service reform. Today, our 'knotty' questions are less about Samoan skirmishes and more about the global supply chain, yet the local anxiety over federal policy impacting regional stability remains a constant, rhythmic feature of Seattle's political dialogue.
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