Prosser Prepares for Dry Future
Local church committees organize a proactive campaign for local option prohibition in the event statewide measures fail.
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.
Prosser, July 15 (Special)—Friday evening, as a result of a call issued by a committee named from the various churches, a meeting was held at the high school, where an organization was formed for the purpose of conducting a campaign to put Prosser into the dry list again, in case statewide prohibition should fail, or to secure the achievement of this end one year sooner. The organization consists of one president with two vice presidents from each ward, together with the clergy of the town as ex-officio members of the executive board, which is to appoint sub-committees for the purpose of financing the campaign, securing complete registration, and interesting the people in a local option fight. The president elected is C. E. Rusk, with vice presidents as follows: first ward, Mrs. E. C. Houston and Albert Smith; second ward, H. R. Fox and Mrs. F. A. Kennett; third ward, Moriss Henry and F. J. Finn. These with the clergy from the six churches form a committee of 13 which will direct the battle through the campaign.
“As to the exact powers of the committee, the motion carried that it have full power to put Prosser dry.”
This local organizing effort occurred two years before Washington State formally adopted Prohibition in 1916. Today, the debates over local control versus state regulation continue to define the civic fabric of Eastern Washington's small towns.
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