ANTI-SALOON LEAGUE, an organi zation whose activities were undoubtedly the chief factor in the promotion of na tion-wide prohibition under a Constitu tional Amendment and the Volstead act which went into effect Jan. 16, 1920. The first step was the formation of the Anti Saloon League of Ohio, chiefly through the labors of Dr. Howard H. Russell at Oberlin, in 1893. The basic idea was that the work so far had all been done under moral and religious auspices—by the churches, the W. C. T. U., and like organizations; that the results in the Pro hibition party were of slow growth, and that a live organization was needed to influence political thought and action di rectl y.
The prime aim of the League was to take the prohibition movement immedi ately into the sphere of politics. Up to that time the work had been chiefly edu cational, and results were slow in coming. The League frankly declared the liquor traffic to be a political issue—and started out from the beginning to attack it in that way. The only way to get prohi bition was by laws—the only way to get the laws was to directly influence public opinion to elect the men who would make them. The liquor interests had for years been doing this. The Anti-Saloon League was formed to fight the enemy with its own weapons. To bring the issue square ly before the people—not so much as a moral and religious issue as an economic and political one—was the work it set itself to do. In Ohio it went at once to the churches and asked the privilege through its speakers and printed matter, and general propaganda, of taking up the temperance work. It beeame in this way a kind of clearing-house for all the reli gious bodies who were interested. In re turn for their financial support it under took to do the work for one and all of them, as a kind of collective executive of the most militant type. It began by a general canvass of all sections to tabu late carefully the entire vote of Ohio for or against prohibition. When a district with a preponderance of prohibition sen timent was found, it then went to work to find the best possible candidate for as many offices as possible from the Senate down who was committed to its side. By
active propaganda such men were elected, until a final majority in both houses tri umphantly carried through the Eight eenth Amendment.
A brother organization was formed at Washington governmental headquarters in the same year. Thus the very cita del of politics was attacked from the start. Two years later the work was so well founded that the Washington League issued a call for a general Anti-Saloon League movement throughout the nation.
Five States responded at once and the American Anti-Saloon League was or ganized at Washington the following December 18, the Ohio and Washington Leagues being the other constituents. Dr. Howard H. Russell was chosen na tional superintendent, and a weekly or gan, the "American Issue," was estab lished.
With this as a starting point, the cause spread rapidly and State after State came in. The work began always with effort for local option, the motto of the League being "let's go a step at a time." It worked often in co-operation with other organizations—but always in the lead. It was frankly taken by the great Protestant religious bodies, and even by high dignitaries of the Roman Church, like Archbishop Ireland and Bishop Spaulding, as meaning business from the start. It was thus recognized at once as THE factor of the prohibition movement in politics—a result-getter and its strength increased daily. It be gan with local option fights, gradually winning its local battles, till it was en abled to launch a state-wide campaign. To the original "dry" column—Maine 1851, Kansas 1880, North Dakota 1889, it added Oklahoma 1907, Georgia 1908, North Carolina, Mississippi, and Tennes see 1909, and fifteen other States up to the introduction of the Volstead act in 1918. It is not too much to say that the liberally financed, ably managed, and tireless campaign of the League contrib uted almost wholly to the final promulga tion of that resolution.