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~ ~ Prohibition in the Okanagan
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Prohibition in the Okanagan
Prohibition is an order to
restrict or stop the manufacturing, transportation and selling of alcoholic liquors,
except for medical and sacramental purposes.
Prohibition was enacted on October 1, 1917, with a vote of 133 for prohibition and 62
against. After the vote was decided, a commissioner was appointed by the province to
enforce the prohibition law, but the job was too big for the commissioner to handle by
himself.
Before World War I, almost every town or city in British Columbia experimented with
by-laws and other actions to maintain a standard of decency. Prohibition was one such law
which started a considerable following. Most British Columbians agreed that liquor should
be kept away from some people, but especially from the Indians. Harsh penalties were
suffered if you were caught giving or selling them liquor. Everyone heard stories of how
too much liquor was dangerous. There was the sad case of August Gillard, an early settler
of Okanagan Mission, who drank and gambled away 400 cattle, 50 horses, and 320 acres of
land.
Prohibitionists claimed liquor was involved in most criminal activities in every
community. Prohibitionists even had proof: "Of 172 cases dealt with by the Penticton
Police department in 1915, 97 involved liquor."
Prohibitionists asked, "wouldn't a prohibition law enforced by the government
maintain peace at a local level?" Others said all that was required some controlling
legislation regarding liquor.
The Methodists were nearly all non - drinkers or teetotallers. They enforced "the
Discipline" against companies who made or sold liquor. Churches taught temperance and
some advocated prohibition, but they were not constantly working towards a political
showdown on the prohibition issue. Churches supported political movements considered
commendable but did not really lead them. For the churches in the Okanagan many of them
didn't organize until the 1900's and didn't have the man power nor financial sources to
lead a political campaign. Church temperance committees were set up but had no measurable
influence outside the church.
The WCTU ( Womens Christian Temperance Committee) lacked direct political power. Women
could not vote - and so couched its critisms of society in moral tones.
Children were organized into bands of hope, and taught about the evil effects of alcohol
and tobacco. Women were not permitted to enter barrooms. The drive for women suffrage can
be partly understood as a part of moral reform. The WTCU demanded a right to vote and the
leaders of the WCTU were often the wives of known prohibitionists.
In the final prohibition campaign of 1915-16 the WTCU provided the new prohibitionists
organization, called the "Peoples Prohibitionist Association" (PPA), with moral
and financial support. The leadership was definitely in the hands of the PPA.
Some prohibitionists said prohibition was a tradition of democratic reforms and many
people agreed with them. In 1909 The Okanagan had a vote on Democratic control of
prohibition, but not enough people voted for it.
Scott Campbell, Robi Sault, Richard Purnell
ALF School 1989