The White Ribboners’ Crusade in Cosmopolis
A local chapter of the W.C.T.U. mounts an impassioned campaign against the ‘despot’ of alcohol, labeling licensed saloons a failed experiment.
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At the county convention at Cosmopolis, Mrs. Rev. W.H. Jordan of Montesano spoke on behalf of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union. The W.C.T.U. draws its inspiration from the Bible, viewing the loss of homes and lives to intemperance as a clarion call to action. We urge every daughter and father of America to enroll as a White Ribboner, as it is estimated that $1,500,000,000 is squandered annually on whisky and tobacco. We believe that God’s word teaches not only temperance but prohibition. Strong drink renders men incompetent to discharge their sacred duties, and the current license laws serve only as a screen behind which the saloon industry entrenches itself. High license is a demonstrated failure; it centralizes the liquor trade and perpetuates it as a legalized parasite on the legitimate and honorable industries of the country. We White Ribboners shall not cease our labor until we have made our nation a saloon-less republic.
“High license is a demonstrated failure; it centralizes and entrenches the saloon trade within its iniquitous reaches.”
The temperance movement in Grays Harbor was a powerful civic force in the late 19th century, reflecting national anxieties about social order and public health that would eventually lead to Prohibition. Today’s debates over the regulation of cannabis and alcohol outlets still carry echoes of these century-old arguments regarding public morality and the 'parasitic' nature of vice industries on a community's economic well-being.
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