Temperance and Tax Reform Collide at the Ballot Box
Voters in Prescott and Milton prepare for bitter municipal elections where the primary battleground is the legality of the saloon.
The story, cleaned up
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Tomorrow the town of Prescott will hold its first annual election since incorporation. The main issue will be the saloon question and much interest is being taken; the anti-saloon forces are well organized and will put up a stubborn fight. At Milton, one of the hottest elections in the history of the town will be held, with the struggle centering on whether to establish saloons, which have been suppressed for 20 years. Two tickets are in the field: the 'Temperance ticket' and the 'Taxpayers' reform ticket,' both actively campaigning to sway the electorate.
“The fight there will also be over the establishment of saloons, which have been suppressed for 20 years.”
Local control over liquor licensing remains a fraught civic issue in Washington, echoing the 1903 battle between 'tax reform' (often tied to business interests) and 'temperance' (driven by moral and social regulation). Today, debates over zoning and public safety have replaced the open saloon, but the struggle for the 'soul' of small-town ordinances persists.
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