WASHINGTON 927 



History. In 1911-12 the state government was controlled by a strongly progres- 

 sive type of the Republican party, all the state officers being Republicans and the 

 legislature having 38 Republicans in a senate of 42 and 84 Republicans in a lower house 

 of 96. On January 17, 191 1 the legislature chose a Progressive, Miles Poindexter (b. 1868 ; 

 state superior court, 1904-08; representative in Congress, 1909-11), United States sena- 

 tor to succeed the Conservative Republican, Samuel Henry Piles (b. 1858), who had 

 served one term. The term of the other senator from Washington, Wesley Livsey Jones 

 (b. 1863; Republican, representative in Congress, 1899-1909) does not expire until 

 1915. In the state campaign in 1912 there were three tickets in the field. The Re- 

 publicans nominated Marion E. Hay (b. 1865) who as lieutenant-governor had become 

 governor, March 29, 1909, upon the death of Samuel G. Cosgrove. Progressive though 

 the state Republican party was, the National Progressives organised, and nominated 

 for governor Robert T. Hodges. This break resulted in the election by a small plu- 

 rality (97,251 to 96,629 for Hay; 77,792 for Hodges) of the Democratic candidate, 

 Ernest Lister, although his campaign lasted only three weeks. The original nominee 

 for governor on the Democratic ticket, Superior Court Judge W. W. Black of Everett, 

 was held ineligible (October 10; State ex rel. Reynolds vs. Howell) by the supreme court 

 of the state, because the constitution provides that supreme and superior court judges 

 during their terms of office are ineligible for any but judicial offices. Republicans 

 were elected to the other state offices and the state senate will be made up of 27 Re- 

 publicans, 9 Democrats and 6 Progressives, and the house of 50 Republicans, 18 Demo- 

 crats, 28 Progressives and i Socialist (from Mason county). 



In the national campaign there were only two county primaries and these were 

 for Roosevelt; but the credentials of the delegates from King county were rejected by 

 the state Republican committee. The national committee (June 15, 1912) and then 

 the convention followed the ruling of the state committee, reversed the action of the 

 state convention which had chosen Roosevelt delegates-at-large, and settled all con- 

 tests in favour of Taft. Although it was supposed that putting a state third party 

 ticket in the field would hurt Roosevelt and that the strict affiliation pledge of the pri- 

 mary would turn many votes from Roosevelt to Taft, the state was carried by Roosevelt, 

 who received 113,698 votes, to 86,840 for Woodrow Wilson, 70,445 for Taft, 40,134 for 

 Debs (14,177 in 1908) and 9,810 for Chafin. Three Republicans and (at large) two 

 Progressives were elected representatives in Congress. The former delegation was 

 three, and the state was not re-districted. 



The use of the recall in Seattle 1 and Tacoma was the most notable incident in 

 municipal history during 1911-12. In Seattle Mayor Hiram C. Gill was recalled 

 (charged among other things with connivance at vice) on February n, 1911, by 31,919 

 votes for George W. Dilling (who thus became mayor) to 25,705 for Gill, whose sup- 

 porters had endeavoured to restrain the city by injunction from holding the recall 

 election and had secured an order restraining the city comptroller from paying expenses 

 of this election; but this order was over-ruled. Petitions for the recall of Dilling 

 (because he had not dismissed the city jailer for cruelty) and of three councilmen were 

 circulated, and the petitions for the recall of the councilmen were filed but were held 

 insufficient, as containing names numbering only 25% of the vote for the individual 

 councilmen instead of 25% "of the entire votes for all candidates for the office." On 

 December 31, 1911 two of these petitions were filed with additional names, but the 

 corporation counsel, the city council and the courts held that they could not be refiled 

 after an interval of ten days. On March 6, 1912 George Fletcher Cotterill (b. 1865; 

 civil engineer, landscape gardener, supporter of municipal ownership, assistant city 

 engineer in 1892-1900, and Democratic candidate for mayor in 1900), was elected 

 mayor by 32,085 votes to 31,281 for Gill. In November a petition was filed for the 

 recall of Cotterill for general inefficiency. 



In Tacoma Mayor A. V. Fawcett secured in 1910 an " anti-treat " ordinance, making 



1 See F. W. Catlett (secretary to the mayor of Seattle), "The Working of the Recall in 

 Seattle," in September 1912 Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science. 



