The Great Land Grab: 1886 Democracy vs. The Northern Pacific
At the 1886 Democratic Territorial Convention in Tacoma, delegates launched a blistering critique against the Northern Pacific Railroad for failing its promises and seizing public lands meant for settlers.
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.
Tacoma, Aug. 18—At 10 o'clock this morning, J. K. Keer, Chairman of the Territorial Democratic Committee, called the convention to order. After the routine of organizing the delegation, the platform committee presented their report, which was adopted unanimously. The Democratic Party of Washington Territory, through its representatives in convention assembled, declared that public lands are the heritage of the people and should be held by the government as a sacred trust, to be sold and disposed of to actual settlers in small holdings. The Northern Pacific Railroad Company, having more than twenty years ago been granted lands equal to an empire in extent to aid in the construction of a railroad from Lake Superior to Puget Sound upon the clear terms and conditions, which terms and conditions it has flagrantly violated, it has now no local or equitable claim to these lands. We therefore demand that the government shall resume control of all granted lands except such as have been sold to bona fide purchasers. We believe the control of large areas of land by individuals or corporations is wrong in principle and prejudicial and dangerous to the public welfare. We denounce, as fraught with peril to our rights and liberties, the high-handed attempts of the Northern Pacific Railroad Company to control the legislation and politics of this Territory.
“We believe the control of large areas of land by individuals or corporations is wrong in principle and prejudicial and dangerous to the public welfare.”
In 1886, Washington's political discourse was dominated by the resentment settlers felt toward railroad monopolies and land grants that favored corporations over the homesteaders building the new territory. This tension over concentrated ownership and the displacement of people from public resources mirrors current, ongoing debates in Seattle regarding corporate influence on housing availability and land use.
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