Arizona republican., 1918-02-04
|NTER-CHURCH
 FO[K DECLARE
 V|CE RAMP ANT

The meeting for civic reform, the first public meeting in the coming city campaign at the courthouse plaza. at o'clock yesterday afternoon took on the semblance of a Kansas cyclone. Promptly on the hour. Dr. W. W. Wilkinson, head of the inter church federation. opened the meeting and crowd converging from the four cor ners of the plaza quickly assembled and greeted the opening remarks of the presiding officer with enthusiasm.
 Dr. Wilkinson offered no apology for what he had to say about vice in Phoenix and he offered a list of hotels which he said were headquarters for vice and gambling. That they were dispensing booze, he said was an open and notorious fact. In conclusion he made a rousing appeal to all good citizens 10 aid in the election of men to office at the coming city election who would respect and enforce the laws.
 He then introduced Dr. Rock of Cal very Baptist church, who offered an address along the same lines and called upon all good citizens to make 1 Phoenix the cleanest town in the west. Dr. Rock said he was democratic to
 
 out vice, he said there could be no politics.
 Dr. H. A. Hughes was then intro duced as "a good republican" who might always be relied upon in a clean up fight. Dr. Hughes went to the bat with characteristic energy. He called spades spades, and in no respect did his language require interpretation. | He said there were four vice palaces quite well known to the police, quite near the place where he then stood, and which were enjoying police pre- lection.
 On the subject of bootleggins, he said the police were doing little or nothing to aid in it's suppression.
 Why don't you tell the sheriff?" asked someone in the crowd. T have tried that often" replied the speaker, and nothing came of it. Dr. Hughes made further allusions to lax ity on the part of the sheriffs office. , Mrs. Wilkey, wife of the sheriff. wal present. She came to the defense oi 7 her husband and forcibly resented the : implication that he had been derelict Some one said: Let us hear from, : the sheriff" and Mir. Wilkey then came forward and said that he was not q
 
 bootlegger he could find. If Dr Hughes would go to the jail and SC. the contraband booze stored there hs would know better what the sheriff. office had been doing. The sheriff. remarks were heartily applauded.
 Dr. Hughes, continuing. said he coull name ten gambling places running al most wide open within a few block of the plaza and the police were doin, nothing about 1t.
 At the close of Dr. Hughes remark ! Policeman Blea took the stand ant I said that in the absence of Chief Bris bois he would speak in defense of tn
 police department He knew of m
 policeman that was paid to protec i vice and he said if he did. he woul' 6 quit his job. The officer added tha '. he was a church member and he in h vited anyone to go with him and poin Y out the violators of the law, and h r would see that it was enforced. e What church do you belong to? l. asked some one in the crowd. 1t Baptist" replied Policeman Ble: o who before becoming a policeman va n a teacher of languages. It B. w. Getsinger was introduced as l. pioneer temperance worker and h V III Scu tIlc ptople tO nlake no In1Stah " In selecting candidates on the munic 10 pal ticket that could be trusted. -e Attorney General Jones was intro ,e duced and was asked what could an at could not be done with respect to boo, of logging and gambling, and he ac
 dressed himself to those inquiries. l. The crowd seemed in dead earne n and a bigger meeting for next Sur lg day, it was stated, would be stage l. when. it was given out, startling rev. q. lations would be made.