The Temperance Movement Comes to the Territory
A new petition arrives in Olympia calling for the total prohibition of liquor sales in the Washington Territory.
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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.
A petition has been left at the Post Office for signatures, urging the Territorial Legislature to pass a prohibitory liquor law similar to the 'Maine Liquor Law' to prohibit the vending of ardent spirits within Washington Territory. The petitioners believe the vending of liquor has a harmful influence on society and that a prohibitory law is essential to the morality and prosperity of the territory.
“Believing that the vending of spirituous liquors has a harmful influence upon society, that a prohibitory liquor law is essential to the morality and prosperity of the territory.”
Early territorial politics were deeply entangled with the temperance movement, mirroring the long road to Prohibition in 1916. The debate over using legislation to enforce public morality remains a persistent theme in Washington civic discourse.
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