Vancouver’s Saloon Fight Comes to a Boil
As city registration closes, the liquor interest and the churches square off over control of the council.
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.
VANCOUVER, Wash.—The coming city election is waxing warm, and the indications are that the largest vote will be polled ever known in the city. The registration, which closed today, showed that a larger registration has been had than anticipated. The saloon element is making a decided effort to win a majority of the council, already claiming two of the three holdovers in that body. The church people are alert, and have engaged Attorney Bain, of the state Anti-Saloon League, to address the people on their side of the question. A mass meeting was held at the Presbyterian church, and he made an address. The probabilities are that part of each ticket will be elected.
“The saloon element is making a decided effort to win a majority of the council, already claiming two of the three holdovers in that body.”
In 1903 Vancouver’s city election was fought over saloons and council control, with churches organizing against the liquor interest. Local ballots still turn on organized factions and moral identity, though the saloon issue has been replaced by other culture-war fights.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.