Weekly Arizona journal-miner. [volume] (Prescott, Ariz.) 1903-1908, 1904-06-01
TEMPE STRUCK
BY REFORM MOVE
Local Option Is Used
AS Club.
Citizens of the Place are Deter
mined to Maintain Moral Pur-
ity of the Town.

] Tempe, May 2S.-Editor Journal
Niner.-It wasn't a big thing TO ask
but it made a big stir in our little
town. | refer to the petition sent in
to our town council, signed by 80 per
cent of the best people of Tempe and
vicinity. This petition asked for the
enforcement of the ordinance prohib-
iting bawdy houses within the city
limits and the repeal of the ordinance
licensing gambling. We we're driven
to our action in this matter by two
things namely, the manifest neglect
on the part of our council in ignor-
ing the presence of what was by
common consent considered a house
of prostitution in orr midst, and the
desire on the part of our citizens to
have a clean town for the benefit of
the normal school at this place.
The council promised to enforce the
ordinance concerning houses of i'll
fame, but turned down that part of
the petition asking for the suppression
of gambling. AS might have been
expected, this created a storm of in
dignation among the people who at
once set on foot a movement for local
option. Many business men who had
never ldNOIEu lUCdl ODAlOu btAblG hNAA
promptly into line and two mass
meetings were held, one in the church
on Sunday evening and one at the
town hail on the following Wednes-
day evening. At the first meeting
enthusiastic speeches were made by
| the leaders in the Christian ranks
urging the people to action for local
option. At the second meeting there
we're assembled the best people of the
| town and vicinity. There was a large
crowd of them, men and women and
| they meant business. \ committee
was appointed to wait upon the city
council to know if they meant to
! rescind their action in regard to gam
bling and to inform them that if they
did not we we're prepared to push To-
cal option at once. When our com
miftee informed them that the whole
of Tempe was camping on their trail
they promptly rescinded their former
action and we're given until the first
of June to put into effect an ordin-
ance for the suppression of gambling
| in Tempe. Thus the matter stands at
the present. We are still camping on
the trail of our esteemed town coun-
| Gil. with a committee of solid citizens
to see that the thing is done.
So far so good; but there is really
greater need of local option IN
Tempe than in any other town of the
territory, unless it be Flagstaff, which
town also has need to safeguard its
student body, or rather the student
| body of its school.
There are 1914 students in the Tempe
normal school besides the 80 in the
training school. One hundred and
ninety four young men and women
away from the restraining influences
of home, unconseiously demand OF us
a clean town for their sakes, and II
the dreadfully immoral influences OF
| the community are not in some way
eliminated note of warning Will GO
out over the territory to the parents
of these young people that they
would better keep their children at
home, or else seek a place of more
elevating environments to which to
send their children. Our people are
waking up to these things. We can
not afford to have the town placed II
a bad light before the patrons of the
normal school, but we cannot protect
the school without making the town q
clean and wholesome one. The Genti
ment of the majoriy here is for Local
option but whether the majority is large
enough to carry it remains to be seen.
W. A. h.