The Anti-Saloon League Tells Tacoma's Churchgoers to Get Their Hands Dirty

An audience that completely filled the auditorium of the First Presbyterian church last night listened with interest to an address by Dr. F. A. Baker of Columbus, Ohio, general superintendent of the Anti-Saloon league in America. Dr. Thomas of Seattle, superintendent of the Washington Anti-Saloon league, presided.

After a statement of the general purpose of the Anti-Saloon league and an outline of the work of its three departments — Agitation, Education and Legislation — Dr. Baker said in part:

"The Anti-Saloon league is not allied with any political party or religious denomination. Our appeal is to men with patriotism enough to vote for a good man on the other ticket rather than a bad man on his own party ticket. The great hope of this republic is the independent voter. Men should be American citizens first, and then Democrats or Republicans. The best party man, after all, is the one who rebukes his party for putting up bad men.

"I do not know much about the officials or conditions in your city, but I do know that if there is a Sunday closing law on your statute books it is being grossly violated. The purpose of the Sunday law is that honest business men can close their stores and offices and get one day's rest in seven. It is not fair that honest men should close their places of business on Sunday and the saloons be allowed to run. They take the laboring man with his week's wages and bleed him all day Sunday and throw him over about a cent. From a business point of view the Sunday closing law should be enforced.

"We are not afraid of such anarchists as those who threw the bombs in Haymarket square in Chicago a few years ago. The most dangerous form of anarchy that we have to fear is the anarchy of public officials who will not enforce the laws. The city official who elects what laws he will enforce and what laws he will not enforce is the worst kind of an Anarchist.

"Men in public office who wink at the laws would do better if they had the encouragement of the law-abiding people. The good people do not make the public official feel that it is safe for him to enforce the laws while the saloonists, gamblers and plug-uglies make him feel that it is safe for him not to enforce the laws, and if the official is human he is going to do the bidding, in part at least, of those who make it safe for him to do so.

"One of the great objects of the Anti-Saloon league is to inform the church people on matters of political and general public interest. There are none so uninformed on political matters, especially among the church people. They know so little about politics and candidates for office that usually when they do make a move the results are disastrous for the cause they would advance.

"We want to get the good people into politics. What is politics? It is the science of government. Any man who is too good to take a part in that is too good for this earth."

At the conclusion of Dr. Baker's address an appeal was made for the support of the Anti-Saloon league work in Washington and a large number of those present made subscriptions to the fund.

Mr. Baker is in this state primarily to counsel with State Organizer Thomas of Seattle regarding the work which will be pursued by the league during the present summer and fall in connection with the political campaign. The general superintendent believes that it is necessary to participate in politics in a non-partisan way in order to accomplish the ends of the league. To what extent the organization will inject itself into the campaign in this state its moving spirits are not yet willing to announce, but it is known that plans are on foot to introduce in the next legislature a local option bill such as is in force in Ohio, where Mr. Baker says it has accomplished great results in the matter of saloon regulation and suppression during the past ten years.