Tacoma's 1904 Election Pits Mayor Against Saloons
As the municipal election approaches, the city finds itself divided between Mayor Campbell’s 'clean' town and George P. Wright’s 'wide open' policy.
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The keen public interest evinced in the political meetings now being held in the various wards shows that the coming city election will be a hotly contested one. The saloon element is today lined up solidly against Mayor Campbell. The Campbell feeling among the saloonists is due directly to the mayor's attitude towards slot machines and gambling, and his hostility towards what is generally known as an 'open policy.' There is an active element in Tacoma which is determined, if possible, to force a 'wide open' policy upon the city, with the time system of fining vice, in place of the present Campbell system of suppressing it. Every voter in Tacoma should be at the polls next week and express his will. Shall there be an 'open' or a 'closed' city? Mayor Campbell stands for the 'closed town.' George P. Wright stands for the 'open town.' There is no other issue.
“Shall there be an 'open' or a 'closed' city?”
This election captures a classic Progressive-era conflict: the struggle between a 'clean' reformist agenda and a 'wide open' libertarian urban model. The rhetoric of the 'open city' vs. 'closed city' echo in modern debates over zoning, nightlife, and vice policing in Tacoma.
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