The Boycott Handbills
After anonymous anti-Chinese handbills appear in Seattle, local laborers write to the Post-Intelligencer to clarify their role—and distance themselves from the movement.
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.
Will you allow us to explain why those terrible boycotting dodgers were printed? There are in Seattle a great many men without money, who in charity or whatever the reason, the best hearts will help them. They seem to take a great liking to the anti-Chinese posters, and for that reason call on them by way of fun, to our knowledge, and also upon the other boarding houses. Many of these men have asked us for employment, and where we thought they could find work, we have referred them in many cases to persons who employ Chinese, thinking they could fill the places at a living wage. Many of these men are strangers, and did not know who to apply to, so we, with others, printed the list of prominent citizens' names, which thoughtless or mischievous persons pleased to call a boycott, and to designate men to them. The Knights of Labor nor any committee had anything to do with it, and never intended to hurt the feelings of any of Seattle's citizens and cannot see why any sensible person need make such a hurrah about this matter. There cannot be a little fire where there is no smoke, and if any man feels indignant after this has been explained in daily papers, it must be because his conscience pricks him a little. No insult or injury was intended, and we shall consider this explanation as going much farther towards smoothing some of the rough sayings which have been said of late than has ever gone towards smoothing the way of the conspirators.
“There cannot be a little fire where there is no smoke, and if any man feels indignant after this has been explained... it must be because his conscience pricks him a little.”
In 1886, Seattle was in the grip of violent anti-Chinese sentiment, often framed by labor organizations like the Knights of Labor. This letter highlights a moment where individuals tried to deflect the 'boycott' label while simultaneously navigating the city's severe labor tensions—an eerie echo of how modern activists and citizens still debate the power and morality of public lists and protests today.
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