by Richard van Pelt, WWI Correspondent

Crowd outside Shibe Park for Game 1 of the 1914 World Series. Photo Source: Library of Congress.

The Capital Journal front page was more about Game 1 of the World Series (the Boston Braves won Game 1 by a score of 7-0 over the Philadelphia Athletics).

In an editorial aside, the Capital Journal observed:

An exchange remarks that the Prohibition league can justly claim to be the persons who took the “gin” out of Virginia. It might be added that the same parties may take the “port” out of Portland.

Outside money and outside interests were as much an issue in 1914 as they are today. Oregon was divided between “wets” and “drys” and opponents to statewide prohibition argued that outside paid agitators were, according to the October 9 edition of the Oregon Statesman, “Inoculating her citizens with the germs of hysteria.” The paper also argued that statewide prohibition took away from communities their ability to govern themselves, as well as to kill the state’s hop industry.