The Price of Loyalty in 1880 Seattle
As Seattle went to the polls in 1880, local editors warned that political fealty to the Republican party was the only way to secure the University and future federal favors.
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.
King county is Republican. That party outnumbers the Democratic under ordinary circumstances by majorities ranging from two hundred and fifty to four hundred. This is known and undisputed. In times past our town and county have enjoyed much favor on this account. The party has felt kind towards us, and the party controlling the Territory and being in favor at the National Capital have dealt generously by us. We have been a power in the Territorial Convention, we have been a power in the Legislature, and we have been a power at Washington City. Not less than one-third the patronage of the Republican party in the Territory of Washington has been bestowed, during the past ten years, upon our citizens on this account. We have had Delegates, Prosecuting Attorneys, Territorial and Legislative officers, all far beyond our right and portion. We have had located here the University, and have had it generously befriended, and we have also had liberal aid bestowed upon the Snoqualmie wagon road. All this and more, because Seattle and King county were the most intensely Republican section of a Republican Territory. We hope for other favors in future. We want the University more richly endowed. We want a United States District Office located here. What, then, shall we do? Shall we stand by those who have hitherto stood by us? Shall we be true to ourselves, to our honor and to our party? If King county goes against the Republican party in this election, they will have to pay for it. The party elsewhere will feel outraged, and will act accordingly. No favor will be shown us, and for years retaliation will be practiced upon us. The University will suffer, the Land Office will go to Port Townsend, and the Capital to Tacoma or Yakima City.
“Shall we turn our backs on the past, act the ingrate, take the bread out of the mouths of our children, and be dishonored and despised from one end of the Territory to the other?”
This 1880 editorial highlights a classic Seattle trope: the transactional nature of political loyalty to secure state resources. Much like modern debates over state-level funding for local infrastructure and the University of Washington, the editors of 1880 viewed political alignment as the essential leverage for civic survival.
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