The Murphy Temperance Crusade
Evangelist Francis Murphy visits North Yakima, leading hundreds to sign the pledge as the city contemplates a permanent temperance society.
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Murphy has come and gone, and, as a sequence, many stomachs which have not known freedom from the labor of carrying a load of alcohol for years past are now getting a well earned rest. The morning cocktail is ignored. This great and effective work has been done without creating any antagonisms, and the saloon keeper, the moderate drinker and the temperance people all have a good word for Murphy. He accomplishes his work not alone from the rostrum, but on the street, in the saloon and other places where men most gather. He gains the good will of the liquor dealer, and persuades him to assist in the work by bringing the reformer into contact with those who are in most need of his help. During the series of meetings the total number of signers was 387. Wednesday evening, a meeting was held in Switzer’s hall for the purpose of taking steps to organize a permanent temperance society.
“Instead of making war on the dealer he showed judgment and tact by directing his efforts against the habit of drinking.”
Long before Washington went dry in 1916, temperance crusades like Murphy’s were social phenomena that blended moral reform with community organizing, even gaining the begrudging respect of local saloon owners who saw the change as a personal choice for their customers.
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