Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1913-03-21
GRANGE AND UNIONS
SCORE LEGISLATURE
Circular Letter to Nearly 1900
members Bitterly Excoriates
Session just Closed.

The final act of the thirteenth leg.
islative session is the best thing it has
adjourned. The body contained
a few good men who fought valiantly
for the common people, but for the
most part it was composed of the most
INSCRIPTIONS gang of cutthroat politi-
clans. pledge voiators, traders, double
crossers and machine tools that ever
assembled in a state capital to botch
legislation and frame deals for the eX-
ploitaton of the people by the special
interests"
This is the opening paragraph of
letter addressed to nearly 5000 men,
bers of the State Federation of Labor,
the Grange and the Farmers Union by
their joint legislative committee at the
close of the legislature. 1t epitomizes
the attitude of these organizations to-
wards the recent session. The Grange
had previously mailed 5000 copies of
Governor Listers famous appropria-
ton message broadcast throughout the
state.
The letter, which is signed by Fred
J. Chamberlain, chairman of the Joint
legislative committee, c. b. Kegley,
president of the State Grange. Almer
McCurtain, representing the Farmers
Union, and II. L. Hughes of the State
Federation of Labor, says in part:
AT the very opening of the session
the members of the house traded ev-
erything in sight in the way of bridges,
roads and pet measures of every kind
and character to get the control Of the
organization in the hands of the lum-
Der trust, the fish combine, the rail-
roads, public service corporations,
bankers, brokers', hooters of the public
domain, and all kindred interests.
That these interests were successful in
getting control of the organization is
shown by the way in which the house
rules committee has throttled every
particle of real legislation in the in
terests of the common people of the
state.
1--WE have struggled with every re-
source at our command to overcome
the opposition Of this committee, and
while we succeeded in getting practi-
cally every measure, for which the
joint committee stood, past all the
other committees, we found ourselves
up against a stone wall of stubborn OPP
position when we reached the rules
measures had to pass before they
could be placed on the house calendar
for final action. While our measures
were stopped at the door of this CON-
mittee, it was very noticeable thing
that the committee always had time to
promptly put forward any pork barrel
measure, or anything in which the fish
combine lumber trust, railroads, bank
ers or other big business interests were
concerned. In a few minutes time
they could pass bill appropriating
millions of dollars to build an auto
mobile road, or bridge to serve some
traction line, but when 1t came to
spending few paltry thousands Of
dollars on some matter that had to do
with lettering conditions for the COM
mon people, they suddenly became sus-
piciously economical.
For instance they were SO econom-
ical along these lines that they could
not see the way to passing bill and
appropriating sufficient money to carry
out the principles of the blue sky
law Ito which vast majority were
pledged), in order that the people of
the state might be effectively protected
against the many swindling, stock-job-
bling fakes that now burden our people
with all manner of illegitimate deals,
wildcat schemes and general invest
duced to pass an employment agency
law to protect the thousands of wage
workers of the state from the grating
private employment agencies for which
they were pledged before election last
fall. Neither could they be induced to
pass law and make a paltry appro-
priation of $4,000 to establish a sys-
TEN of state free employment agencies
to give relief to these long-expoited
workingmen.
wealthy bankers, brokers, lumber
men, and allied interests, flocked to
Olympia by the score to defeat these
measures. These lobbyists who have
disgraced the legislative halls for years
were welcomed by the machine leaders
and given the courtesy Of the floor and
admitted to the sacred precincts of the
rules committee, while the representa-
tives of the labor unions, the State
Grange and the State Farmers Union,
and others who were here in the inter-
ests of the people, were daily tainted
Nv ha To- ~