Temperance Gains in California
By Editor
DURING recent weeks the temperance people of California have been very active in numerous localities, conducting local option prohibition campaigns. Something over two hundred towns have had the question before them as to whether they would continue to license the saloon. Some very energetic work has been going on. Platform speaking and the circulation of thousands of pages of leaflets and other literature have been the chief means of educating the people to see the absurdity and uselessness as well as the curse of keeping the licensed saloon among us. There is absolutely no good thing that can be said in favor of the saloon, while there are enough things that can be said against it to fill page after page. The election in many of the towns was held on April 8, and twelve of them that we have heard of voted the saloons out on that day. We are glad to be able to announce that our own home town of Mountain View is among the number. An educative campaign was vigorously conducted here for about two months before the election. All personalities and bitter attacks were excluded by common consent of the temperance workers, but we did all in our power to make plain the destructive work that the saloon is doing. The various churches of the community, as well as many citizens who were not affiliated with any religious denomination, worked in the campaign with a unanimity that was good to see. The pastors of the Methodist and Presbyterian churches gave much of their time to the work, and the editors of the SIGNS OF THE TIMES gave several addresses and otherwise helped the good work along. The Pacific Press did considerable printing also, to help the fight for a clean home town. When the campaign was started by the Anti-saloon League, there were many business men, as well as others, who thought there were business reasons why the saloons should stay with us. But as the work of education went on, one after another of these joined us, until when election day was reached, the majority of votes cast against the saloon was a great surprise to the community. After the conflict was all over, even the saloon men themselves were compelled to say that we had voted them out fairly, but that we had not abused them in doing it. Let the good work go on all over the grand old Golden State, as well as throughout our great republic and the world at large. May many of the other towns which have their elections on later dates, get rid of these moral pests known as saloons.