The Colville examiner. [volume] (Colville, Wash.) 1907-1948, 1922-03-25
To Cut Representation
of Smaller Counties

(By FRED IL. Wolf, editor Newport
Miner, state representative from
Pend Oreille county.)
The Palmer-Seattle initiative bill
which proposes to reduce the legis-
lative representation of eastern
Washington, exclusive of Yakima,
but inclusive of Skamania county,
to exactly the same size as King
county would create a new sena-
torial district composed of Adams,
all of Lincoln, Ferry and Stevens
counties that would have no greater
voting strength than the compact
little district of two wards in the
city of Seattle that Palmer proposes
to erect for himself. This eastern
Washington territory covering 1926
all of King county, would get one
senator and three representatives I'M
der the plan outlined by Palmer and
now being signed by Seattle voters
under the spur of the newspapers of
that city. And all of eastern Wash
ington, twenty counties having to-
tai area of 38,931 square miles,
would be given 6 senators and 18
senator's, what the Palmer-Seattle
bill purposes to keep as King coun-
ty's representation-and there are
but Pill square miles in King coun-
ty, or one-ninteenth the area in
eastern Washington whose legisla-
tive representation is to be whitfield
to the bone.
Ever since territorial days each
county has been accorded one mem
ber in the house on the same theory
that congress gives each state two
senator's that territorial represen-
tation is as necessary as population
to enable legislative body to rep
resent the whole territory it gov
erns.
At present Adams, Grant, Ferry
counties have one representative
each: Lincoln and Stevens have two
apiece. Douglas also has a repre-
sentative. Palmer proposes to join
these counties in the third senatorial
district, but in alloting representa-
tives he would give Adams, Grant
and the second commissioner dis
trict Of Douglas county exclusive of
Trinidid, one representative between
them; he would give another to
Lincoln and Ferry counties jointly
and third to Stevens, thus cutting
the representatives from 71s to 3.
At present Lincoln has a senator;
Stevens and Pend Oreille have anoth-
er; Adams is linked with Franklin
and part of Walla Walla is a sena-
torial district, while Grant, Douglas
and Ferry are linked with Okanogan
county in a senatorial district. The
Palmer bill would give these coun-
ties approximately one-third the
present strength they have in the
senate.
Another striking example of what
the Palmer initiative bill would do
if enough Seattle voters sign the
petition to place the measure on the
ballot and it could be carried at the
November election is given on the
southern boundary of the state where
Palmer proposes to link Columbia,
Walla Walla, Benton, Franklin,
Klickitat and Skamania counties in a
single district, again eliminating two
east side senator's and cutting out
five representatives.
The Palmer bill was filed just af-
ter an official report made by l.. D.
McArdle, director of efficiency, had
estimated that of the $116,000,000 of
tax-exempt property in this state
owned by the various cities and
towns, Seattle alone owned $108,000,-
900. About the time the Palmer bill
was filed another bill was initiated
from King county that would give
Seattle home rule and unlimited op-
portunity to, extend it's tax-exempt
holdings by engaging in every phase
of business from farming, mining,
marketing to arrial transportation.
Seattle's relief from state tax bur-
dens would be increased by holdings
inside or outside the city as it saw
fit; it would become largely self
governing and sieze a dominant
position in the legislature that
would enable it to make the laws
for the rest of the state.
Initial steps have been taken to
fight the Palmer bill through a state
wide organization of the smaller
counties in the "Cow County Defense
League" Preliminary conferences
have been held on both sides of the
mountains and further organization
will be effected. In the meantime
the league is gathering all the data
that can be found at Olympia to
fight the Seattle legislative control