Debating the Tide Lands
A committee weighs how the state will hold, lease, and sell shore lands in the new constitutional framework.
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 constitutional committee is debating the disposition of tide lands. All public lands of the state are held in trust for all people, and no title to such lands or any interest thereto shall ever be disposed of except by law. The committee considered the section on harbor and wharfage privileges, which had been a subject of long debate. It was agreed that the state shall hold the title and control of lands and privileges upon navigable waters of the state, and they shall be held in trust for the use of all people, in such manner and terms as the legislature may provide. None of the lands granted to the state shall be sold other than at public auction to the highest bidder after the value thereof shall be appraised.
“All public lands of the state are held in trust for all people.”
The struggle over public access to Seattle's waterfront and tide lands remains a central theme in local governance, echoing the 1889 debates over private vs. public rights to shoreline property.
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