Bootleg Rings Thrived Under Washington's Dry Law
As Washington State’s 1916 'dry law' causes bootlegging to explode, local newspapers argue that criminalizing private habits only breeds corruption and crime.
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.
During the early part of 1916, the new dry law of the State of Washington, put into effect January 1st, apparently gave general satisfaction. The saloons were abolished, drunkenness decreased, and crime fell. However, beneath the surface, the illicit traffic has grown to huge proportions. Since the moderate home supplies were exhausted, the bootleg traffic is now controlled by separate syndicates or 'rings' in Seattle. Morally, the course has been downward ever since, as citizens find it impossible to procure alcoholic beverages in a legal and orderly fashion. The time has come for a turn toward better conditions through Initiative Measure No. 24, which seeks to restore the right to purchase limited quantities of beer for private use at home.
“The boot-legger, with profound knowledge of the workings of human nature, had been content to wait, knowing that the demand would come, and prepared to satisfy it, on his own terms.”
This 1916 editorial captures a pivotal moment when Washington’s early experiment with prohibition began to unravel into the systemic corruption of the bootlegging era. It echoes today’s debates about how restrictive policies often push controlled substances into unregulated, dangerous black markets.
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