Summary Information
Anti-Saloon League of Wisconsin Records
1916-1934
- Anti-Saloon League of Wisconsin
Mss 604
2.0 c.f. (5 archives boxes)
Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)
Records documenting the activities of the Anti-Saloon League of Wisconsin, covering the years roughly from 1916 to 1934. The records pertain to the League's stringent efforts to implement and enforce prohibition in the state of Wisconsin. Included are materials regarding investigative cases into “blind-pigging” activities and local option elections, speeches and personal notes, wet and dry propaganda pamphlets, clippings from prohibition journals and local newspapers, examples of liquor legislation, and license application forms, and other miscellany.
English
http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-mss00604 ↑ Bookmark this ↑
Biography/History
The Anti-Saloon League of Wisconsin was organized in 1898. As a state auxiliary of the Anti-Saloon League of America, its single purpose consisted of education and political persuasion of the public and legislators in favor of prohibition. Although nominally nonpartisan and nonsectarian, the League worked closely with evangelical Protestant churches in the hope of resurrecting a moral society by eliminating the saloon. In their fervent crusade the League effectively utilized the pulpits of Protestant churches, staged rallies and debates, printed leaflets and pamphlets for distribution, and published a prohibition journal--The American Issue. Like other state auxiliaries, the Anti-Saloon League of Wisconsin lobbied vigorously for prohibitory measures and campaigned actively to elect public officials favorably disposed to their cause.
Prior to the First World War, the Wisconsin League achieved only minor victories against the saloon in local option elections. But with United States entry into the “Great War,” the League ably rode the crest of national concern for industrial efficiency and economy and threw its full weight behind prohibitory legislation. Although at the pinnacle of their power during the war and shortly afterward, the Wisconsin League faced formidable opposition from the Wisconsin Brewers Association, an effective lobby of the brewery industry. In 1917, the League lobbied for passage of the Evjue “Bone Dry Referendum Bill” but suffered defeat when Governor Emanuel Philipp vetoed the measure. In the same year, however, Congress submitted the Eighteenth Amendment to the states for ratification. The League joined a chorus of evangelical Protestant churches and other prohibition organizations to combat the liquor interests and win ratification. In 1919 Wisconsin became the 39th state to ratify the Eighteenth Amendment. Despite their successful ratification drive, the League was disappointed that the Amendment gave the states concurrent power with the federal government to enforce prohibition. To resolve the ambiguity, the League actively lobbied for legislation that would institute state-wide prohibition. With the passage of the Mulberger Act in 1920, prohibition officially came to Wisconsin.
In subsequent years the Anti-Saloon League of Wisconsin suffered repeated setbacks in its efforts to maintain state-wide prohibition. As it faced growing opposition from the brewery lobbies, the Socialist Party wet legislators, and the Wisconsin Chapter of the National Association Against the Prohibition Amendment, the Wisconsin League found itself in constant retreat.
On April 7, 1933, early in Franklin Delano Roosevelt's first term as President Congress repealed the Eighteenth Amendment. Shortly after 1934, the Anti-Saloon League of Wisconsin disbanded as a prohibition organization.
Scope and Content Note
Although the records cover the years roughly from 1916 to 1934, most of the material applies to the time between 1917 and 1919 when the League was at the zenith of its political influence. In addition, the records of this three-year period comprise chiefly the correspondence of James J. McDonald, who acted as corresponding secretary and attorney-at-law for the League. The records, which richly document the League's crusade to pass and enforce prohibitory measures, are arranged under the following headings: Investigations, Speeches and Personal Notes, Pamphlets, Articles, Liquor Legislation, and Miscellany.
INVESTIGATIONS comprises the bulk of the records and is divided into two subseries: Blind Pigs Cases and Election Cases. Records pertaining to the Blind Pigs Cases include correspondence, detective investigation reports, and county and circuit court testimony, briefs, and decisions. The term “blind-pigging” refers to the illegal sale, manufacture, or transfer of alcohol. The cases graphically depict the undercover activities of the Wisconsin League in its efforts to enforce prohibition laws in a number of towns in the state. The blind pigs cases involved the League's enlistment of the services of private detective agencies to investigate individuals and saloon establishments suspected of violating local and federal prohibition laws. To secure evidence for prosecution, the League initiated a “John Doe” proceeding. Witnesses would be subpoenaed and compelled to testify under oath before an examining magistrate, although the proceeding was merely a preliminary examination of the facts of the case. If the evidence indicated extensive criminal activity, the case would be turned over to a grand jury for prosecution.
Records relating to Election Cases deal with legal proceedings brought against the outcome of a local option election. Local option elections were held to determine whether individuals in a given town could lawfully obtain a liquor license to sell alcohol. Included are court petitions, complaints, temporary injunction orders, subpoenas, testimony, briefs, and final rulings. In contesting an election result, either wet or dry forces often accused the opposition of using fraudulent means to secure victory. An investigation would be ordered by the circuit district court and if any evidence of wrongdoing was found, the court would order an election “recount.”
SPEECHES AND PERSONAL NOTES consists of the notes of James J. McDonald, scribbled on index cards and scraps of paper. Personal notes reflect McDonald's ideas on prohibition. The speech notes address various topics of concern at that time: liquor and labor, liquor and hospitality, the evils of the liquor trade, and so forth.
The League printed a wide assortment of propaganda PAMPHLETS, designed to educate and sway the public and lawmakers in favor of prohibition. Examples of the pamphlets included are “Liquor and Labor,” “Drink and the Underworld,” “Personal Liberty and the Saloon,” and “The Farmer and Prohibition.” Also included are some wet propaganda materials: a report published by Anheuser-Busch, Inc. detailing the beneficial effects of the Quebec and Wine System on temperance, and clippings from Progress--“A Journal Devoted To The Interest of Every Department Of The Liquor Trade.”
Numerous ARTICLES from prohibition journals and local newspapers examine virtually every issue of concern to prohibitionists. Included are articles from some of the most prominent prohibition journals of the day: The Amethyst, Think It Over, The California Liberator, The Instructor, The Campaigner, The Beaver, The New Republic, Efficiency, and the main organ of the Anti-Saloon League, The American Issue. A wide variety of miscellaneous articles as well as a file of McDonald's personal clippings relating to his activities as attorney-at-law for the League are also included.
LIQUOR LEGISLATION contains a number of local city ordinances, reports and copies of Wisconsin liquor laws, pamphlets issued by the Treasury Department in 1933, and a memorandum summarizing the accomplishments of the special session of the 1933-1934 State Legislature with regard to the regulation and taxation of intoxicating beverages. Material on the Evjue Referendum Bill and the Mulberger Act is included.
MISCELLANY consists mostly of correspondence (1924-1926) relating to a local option petition and drafts of license application forms. Also included is correspondence between James McDonald and the Superintendent of the Wisconsin League, D. L. McBride, regarding McDonald's election campaign for State Assemblyman.
Administrative/Restriction Information
Presented by James J. McDonald, Madison, Wisconsin, 1979. Accession Number: M79-422
Processed by Bruce Montgomery and Joanne Hohler, April 1983.
Contents List
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Series: Investigations
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Blind Pigs Cases
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Box
1
Folder
1
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Belleville, “John Doe,” 1917 Jun 25-1919 May 10
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Box
1
Folder
2
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Belmont, 1917 Nov 8-1918 Jun 5
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Box
1
Folder
3
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Clinton, 1917 Oct 16-1918 May 7
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Box
1
Folder
4
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Delavan, 1917 Jun 23-1917 Oct 30
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Box
1
Folder
5
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Elroy, 1918 Jan 8-1918 Mar 8
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Box
1
Folder
6
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Evansville, 1917 Oct 2-1918 Jun 1
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Box
1
Folder
7
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Fort Atkinson, “John Doe,” 1917 Nov 9-1918 Feb 27
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Box
1
Folder
8
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Galesville, 1916 Jun 12-1917 May 12
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Box
1
Folder
9
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Lake Mills, “John Doe,” 1917 Dec 11-1918 Feb 6
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Box
1
Folder
10
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Mellen, “John Doe,” 1917 Dec 22-1918 Apr 12
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Box
1
Folder
11
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Merton, 1917 Jul 31-1918 Mar 26
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Box
1
Folder
12
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Niagara, “John Doe,” 1918 Oct 12-1919 Jul 7
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Box
1
Folder
13-14
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Oconto Falls, “John Doe,” 1917 Aug 27-1918 Jul 9
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Box
2
Folder
1
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Oshkosh, 1917 Jan 16-1917 Oct 19
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Box
2
Folder
2-4
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Park Falls, “John Doe,” 1917 Oct 8-1918 Apr 12
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Box
2
Folder
5
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Platteville, 1918 Sep 6-1918 Nov 27
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Box
2
Folder
6
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Rice Lake, 1918 Jan 9-1918 Mar 22
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Box
2
Folder
7
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Westboro, 1918 Jan 4-1918 Mar 14
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Election Cases
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Box
2
Folder
8
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Browntown, 1917 Jun 21-1918 Dec 18
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Box
2
Folder
9
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Elkhorn, 1918 Apr 11-1918 Apr 26
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Box
2
Folder
10-11
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Madison, “recount,” 1918-1919
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Box
3
Folder
1
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Mineral Point, “recount,” 1917 Apr 15-1917 Oct 30
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Box
3
Folder
2
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New Lisbon, 1917 May 29-1917 Dec 18
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Box
3
Folder
3
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Trempealeau, 1917 Apr 24-1918 Apr 12
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Box
3
Folder
4
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Waupun, 1918, Mar 7-1918 Mar 20
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Box
3
Folder
5-7
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Series: Speeches and Personal Notes
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Box
3
Folder
8-10
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Series: Pamphlets, 1917-1919
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Box
4
Folder
1-6
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Series: Articles
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Box
5
Folder
1-7
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Series: Liquor Legislation
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Box
5
Folder
8
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Series: Miscellany
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