The War on Walla Walla’s Saloons
An early 20th-century editorial denounces local saloon owners as anarchists and moral threats, revealing the deep social divide over the city's 'wide-open' nightlife.
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.
To the Walla Walla Saloon Men's Protective Association: You are accused by the law-abiding element of the city of Walla Walla with being in a state of overt rebellion against the government of the state of Washington, whose statutes provide that your places of business shall remain closed from 12 o'clock Saturday night until 12 o'clock Sunday night. In refusing to recognize the laws of state, your attitude becomes one of anarchy. The public cannot do otherwise than to bring the following charges against each and every one of you: By giving licenses to whoever asked for them, we have brought into our midst men who have regard neither for us nor our laws. To make money they propose to entice innocent girls and boys of our city into their resorts, that they may lose their self-respect and become prostitutes, toughs, and drunkards—through side doors and private boxes.
“They seem to take devilish pleasure in disobeying the edicts laid down by society. They seem to hate society, the law, government and everything that is calculated to restrain men or make them nobler or better.”
This editorial captures the intense moral panic surrounding alcohol and nightlife in Walla Walla at the turn of the century. The rhetoric regarding 'side doors' and 'private boxes' reflects the era’s preoccupation with regulating social behavior, a precursor to the temperance movements that eventually led to state-wide prohibition in Washington in 1916.
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