The Minister and the Saloon
A fiery Memorial Day sermon calls out the city's corrupt politics and the vice rampant in the very shadow of Seattle's churches.
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.
The special Memorial exercises at the Armory yesterday included a bold sermon by the Rev. Wallace Nutting, pastor of Plymouth Congregational Church. Taking 'The Present Crisis' as his theme, Nutting addressed the veterans directly: 'The fight that you bequeath to the next generation is the fight to obtain for patriotic men the control of the municipality. This is so great a question that it may almost be said there is no other.' He pointedly called out the presence of vice in the city, noting that in the very block occupied by his church and the Armory, a saloon operated next door to an undertaker's establishment. 'When it gets to the point, as it has in this city, when people cannot walk to church without dodging drunkards, when the sidewalks are blockaded with creatures of a worse stamp, it is time that decent citizens, irrespective of party, should insist that something be done.' He criticized the city government's refusal to close saloons during late-night hours and challenged the congregation to prioritize social purity over mere party loyalty.
“Verily, I say unto you, except our righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of Republicans and Democrats, and Prohibitionists as such, we shall in no wise enter the kingdom of heaven.”
Rev. Nutting's 1892 complaint—that Seattle's city government prioritized business interests over the quality of life on its streets—mirrors the enduring tension in Seattle between urban development and civic standards. Today's debates over public space, homelessness, and the influence of money in politics echo the same fundamental question he posed: who is the city actually for?
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