Double Standards in New Tacoma and Tacoma City
A call for equal law enforcement as 'ancient' Tacoma City ignores the Sunday saloon closures observed in New Tacoma.
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.
New Tacoma was very quiet last Sunday. All of the saloons closed their doors, and it was believed that liquor was inaccessible in this region, but it was stated that in the ancient settlement of Tacoma City the saloons were in full blast. Now there can be no good reason why the law should be observed in one precinct and violated in another, and as the county officers have this matter in hand, it would be well if they would extend their supervision to Tacoma City, and see that the law is enforced there as well as in New Tacoma.
“Now there can be no good reason why the law should be observed in one precinct and violated in another.”
This mirrors the perennial civic frustration with uneven enforcement of regulations between neighboring municipalities or districts. The tension between the 'new' booming town and the 'ancient' settlement captures the rapid growth of the region in the 1880s.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.