Washington (State). Governor (1909-1913 : Hay)

Marion Hay was born in Adams County, Wis., in 1865. He attended a business college in Dubuque, Iowa, then moved to Jackson, Minn., where he worked as a store clerk. In 1887 he married Lizzie Muirs, and the next year they moved to Washington Territory. They settled in Davenport, where Marion formed a partnership in a general store with Charles Grutt. In 1889 the Hays moved to the town of Wilbur in eastern Washington, where Marion and his brother, E.T. Hay, established the Hay Department Store. The store grew to be one of the largest and best known mercantile establishments in the Northwest. One of their best customers was Chief Joseph. The Hays later built a house in Spokane, where Marion formed the Big Bend Land Company, in equal partnership with his brother, E.T. Hay.

In 1907 when the direct primary law was passed, Marion Hay's friends encouraged him to run for the office of Lt. Gov. He won the nomination and was subsequently elected in 1908. From the date of Governor Cosgrove's inauguration in Jan. 1909 until his death in March, Lt. Gov. Hay was acting governor. Upon Cosgrove's death, Hay became governor. Governor Hay's first major task as governor was to clean up the corruption which had seeped into some areas of state government. The 1909 legislature appointed a committee to investigate certain public officials, and on receiving the committee's report Governor Hay called an extra-ordinary session to meet in June, 1909. Hay urged a thorough housecleaning and declared that "opposition to further investigation can come only from those who have something to conceal." The investigations went ahead and several officials were dismissed.

Since the days of Governor Rogers and the Populists, the state had been moving towards progressivism. During Hay's administration the Republican legislature passed a number of measures for which the progressives had been agitating. The most notable measure passed by the 1909 legislature was the proposed amendment to the state constitution providing for women's suffrage, which was approved by the voters in 1910. Among the other measures adopted in 1909 were: a new criminal code; an act regulating the insurance industry; the creation of a firemen's relief and pension fund; diking and drainage district regulations; the regulation of nurses' training and registration; and the regulation of optometry. The 1909 statutes ran to over 1,000 pages, a greater volume of legislation than passed by any previous legislature.

Two constitutional amendments were proposed by the 1911 session and were adopted at the general election of 1912. These provided for direct legislation by initiative and referendum and for the recall of elective officers except judges of courts of record. One of the most important acts of 1911 was the passage of a bill creating the first monopolistic state industrial insurance fund in the U.S. Another important statute expended the powers of the State Railroad Commission by creating in its place a Public Service Commission to regulate other public utilities such as gas, electric, water, and street railway companies. In anticipation of the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition the 1907 legislature had appropriated $400,000 and the 1909 legislature provided an additional $400,000. The exposition was a great success, bringing publicity, tourists, and national recognition to Washington. In 1912, Marion Hay lost his bid for re-election to Ernest Lister. The Hay family returned to their family home in Spokane, where Marion became active in political and business activities. Hay died of a heart attack on 21 Nov. 1933.

From the description of Governor Marion E. Hay papers, 1909-1913. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 70976894