The People vs. The Senators: Washington’s Bold Demand for Direct Democracy
In a rare moment of unity, the state legislature sends a powerful message to Congress: stop letting politicians pick your senators. It’s time for the people to vote.
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.
OLYMPIA, Jan. 28.— [Special.]—The bitterness arising out of the late senatorial election probably had something to do with unanimous action on the following memorial passed by the House today:
To the Honorable the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States: Your memorialists, the legislature of the state of Washington, would respectfully submit that in accordance with the progressive spirit of the republic and in furtherance of the almost imperative demands of the people, and having in view the perfection of our state legislature, a change in the mode of electing United States senators is demanded which will more thoroughly harmonize with the first principles of democracy; and feeling that the perpetuity of this government will be more fully assured by a closer alliance of our chief legislative body with the people, we believe that steps to secure a necessary constitutional amendment to the end that our people should have a direct vote in the election of United States senators, should be immediately inaugurated. We respectfully present this memorial, believing that it expresses the sentiments of a very large majority of the people of the state of Washington.
This 1905 legislative resolution was a direct precursor to the 17th Amendment (ratified in 1913), which established the direct election of U.S. Senators by popular vote rather than by state legislatures. The 'bitterness' referenced likely stems from the contentious and often corrupt backroom dealings that characterized senatorial selections at the time, a struggle for civic power that mirrors modern debates over electoral reform and gerrymandering.
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