The Lancaster news. (Lancaster, S.C.) 1905-current, July 11, 1906, Image 1
The Lancaster News
LEDGER 1852 REVIEW I37($ ENTERPRISE 1891
VOL. I. NO. 79. SEMI-WEEKLY LANCASTEIl. S C., JUT Y II. 1906. Di>ife_cim
Tillman on the Dispensary
The Senator's Address at
Saml\r TPlot Qolm-^nu
A IUI VJC\iui uay
poses County Dispensaries
and Outlines his Plan to
Purify the State Dispensary.
Senator Tillman ma ie his fi>>t
speech ol the campaign lasl !S<turday
at Sandy Fl u, Greenville
county. It is est mat "I thai 4000
persons were present. The subject
of the Senator's address w;ts
the Dispensary. lie spoke as
follows:
There is but one important
issue involved in this campaign,
so tar as State affairs go, and as
for my own candidacy it rests on
the record which I have made
since I entered public life sixteen
years ago and the intimate
knowledge which the people ol
the State have of my character,
personality and qualifications. I
am willing to leave it there with
out. discussion or presentation
The fight is State dispensary vs
county dispensary, (or no one
expects the prohibition candidate*,
however worthy and well
qualified they may be, to receive
very much support. With all
their efforts (and they have been
many and long continued) the
newspapers which have always
fought the dispensary have not
S been able'to drum up a candi
date lor Governor who advocates
local option straight as against
dispensary and prohibition, and
only in Charleston does What
idea have any men offering for
office under it. The local option
offered the people is between
prohibition and county (lispen
sury, and the whole fight is to
destroy the State dispensary
first, with no other purpose than
to then obtain the privilege of
reopening the old bar rooms onderjhe
guise of liquor stores,
"selling under constitutional
limitations " The real fight is
for the control of the Le?ri?l iture.
because tho Governor cannot
make or change the laws, and
can only try to enforce them
His only influence oyer le.:i-lution
would be in the use of the
veto power. Hut it is all important
to go' a strong and good
man tor Governor. The timef
distinctly demand one.
BAYS COUNTY DISPKNSAHIKS WON*!
1>0.
In any event some counties will
stand by prohibition with its blind
j figets and heavy jug trade by ex?
pres^ ut tier counties will vote foi
coniily dispensaries and the oil ies
fh ere 1 lie principal newspaper!
are published will have the fighi
' on I he issno of Slate dispen-arj
or county dispensary, with the
ultimate purpose of having the
/ county dispensaries turned intf
licensed bar rooms if I he count}
dispensaries are abolished- Th<
scheme is to restore th< sale ol
liquor to pr v do individuals rather
than let it remain in the haudt
of State ofli'dals Tlioso who clam
f>
or lor county dispensaries instead
o' one Stale dispensary mud
demount rate how it. is easier to
: prevent corruption among the
, thirty or forty county boards
thun to slop it in one State hoard.
I have great laith in the good
common sen^e of tho people, and
do not believe they can he persuaded
to destroy the State dispensary,
fciul leave each county
to purchase and sell its own liquor.
Yet the State and News
and Courier, which have always
hated the dispensary
"WorRe than the devil ha'cMh >'y
water"'
*1
ire advocating candidates who
lavor county dispensaries. The
only possible good reason t at
can be advanced on I his line is
that the prohibition counties under
the Constitution receive a
part of the profits which arise
from tlie sale of liquor in the
other couLties. This is unjust,
as everyone mu^t acknowledge,
but it can be remedied very easily
by having the State dispensary
make no profits other than a lew
thousand dollars above its run
iniij^ da^ciiscb, iiius leaving uie
counties and Iho towns to divide
the profits between them. This
can be easily done and when we
consider the expense of buying
liquor in retail quantities and
paying local freight on it instead
of buying carload lots and paying
through freights the county dis
pensary cannot stand the comparison.
But this is not t he great
, est objection.
The leakage or stealage in bitt
ling of liqu? r at each county dispensary
would be immense, and
. I know of no way that it could
be prevented, nor do I know any
by which it would be possible to
prevent the whiskey being wat,'ered,
bottles refilled, relabeled
'and other schemes of making
I money dishonest I v. il the sv#ii>m
1 wore adopted. It is not possible
to prevent it and I do not think
anv sensible man who considers
1
the question will seriously coni
tend thai it is. Even it one hall
of the counties in t he Slate should
adopt the prohibition-blind-tiger
I ju_r trade programme it would be
better, more economical, and
. there would he les-> j os-ibility ol
, cor; option and p eolation in tie
purchase and handling ol liquor
I in the other dispensary counties,
i it i he buying, bottling and ship
ping should he done at one cent
al depot, instead of in each
county.
j KKFKKKNCK To CM Mtl.KSTON.
1| It must not he forgotten, he
niii>o it was I he understanding
r (and a bargain was made) duiiuu
i the fi.lii in the legislature las'
i winter a.'ainst ihe Stale dispen
I sary. tliat the ul'imde purpose
' is to have Charleston wholesale
> liquor dealers supply the county
i J dispensaries, as well as Ihe .jug
J tmulo I." I?
< i ' >?i '? i a i'irnn III 11 I v ruil>ltl*'K|
' and whdo this would be better
? than to have this liquor shipped
F in from North Carolina audGe ?r-*uia,
is it now is, because it would
i keep the money at home, I do
not believo that the people of the
S'ate are no v willing, or will ev'?
r l>e willing, t<> see the Siale
dispensary destroyed, with the
inevitah e result that !i<| r selling
wi I. graduallv go I>?.? k to the
old sv--t-ii) ot priva'e contiol. 1
would he glad to have Charleston
pro-pur, but it is not the loss ot
the liquor trade that has hurt
I Charleston. Other things are to
I hlame.
Toe issue between private conj
trol and control by Slate officials
must hinge at last on the question
of whether or not t he people
ot ffouth Carolina shall determine
! ihat we cannot find honest men
enough to carry on the dispensary
system and device laws to
make those who are dishonest
afraid. 1 say we can. 1 do not
believe that every man who
handles whiskey must become a
thief. I believe that the people
only need to see and know that
the dispensary system can be re-1
formed and cleansed of corruption
to make them stand by it.
I will proceed to {jive the plan
which appears to me after a ^reat
deal of thoneht anri
lien of suggest ions from very
many sources to be Hie best. We
will begin on the counties,
now TO CURE THE DISI'KNSATY
County dispensers should be
elected in the Democratic primary,
the same as other officers.
The county board should be
composed of the mayor of the
town in which a dispensary is
located, the supervisor of the
county, who is the business agent
ot the county, and one man appointed
hv the Governor. The
county dispenser should tie removable
by the Governor for
cause. The State board of control
ought to be elected by the
Legislature, but i'S duty should
tie confined to general direction
and miiiA-viiinii i\f ilm K.
w .. -v.. W 4 Miu
the same as the Peniten'iary ami
11 ospi t a I for the Insane are run
It should not purchase any whiskey
or any!hint: else required in
the business. Everything rc
<pited, including the whiskey,
should i?e bought under annua1
contracts made as follows: Alter
the slate commissioner has ad
vertised in the manner presrcribe
1 by law (and this ought to be
v?*iy c'ear an 1 specific, leaving
nothing to t lie discretion of any
one, and going lull v into details)
the bids should be opened in
public by three men se'ecled just
before tin date lixcd by theCiovi
enior and I lie con' ract in nle with
j the lowest bidder by the year for
1 the supplies lo be ordered out by
| the commissioner as needed.
| These three men are to serve only
once, and iiinually there shall
he three new men chosen to
I make the contracts. The bidders
| will not know who will make the
j award* and, therefore, cannot
!enter into collusion in a lvance,
and even should tlio Governor,
which is intonceivahle, he willing
to select a heard which would
act corruptly, the specilications
i of fl e bidding made with minute
no** and the publicity would
prevent any graft
No whiskey or liquor should
| be purchased except from Cx
jCrnment bonded ware hous
lit the case ot wines and beer 1
brewers should alone furnish \
second direct r in the breweri
and t lie small quantity ol t he o
or used could be hedged about
the advertisement soastoinsi
lionestv and the purest and b
j article. For the information
those who are not posted,
will say that the Governnn
I bonded ware bouses are un<
tlie control of the United Sta
internal revenue olbcials eotir<
and whiskey deposited in tin
comes directly from the still, a
the owner is not permittted
manipulate it or handle it in a
way until the tax is paid and
is removed. We thus get a gi
I ...
ramee oi absolute purity withi
a chemical analysis and such
qtiors are as much staple artic
of commerce as corn, wheat
bacon. It is the blended a
rectified whiskeys that are ad
terated and where the cheati
comes in. The blending and m
ing. could be done in the St:
dispensary, where there wo'
tie no incentive to increase p
fits by adulterations, besides 1
law would provide severe pen
ties for that kind of thing.
The county dispensers, be
elected by the people, will
anxious to please the people
they will be b^a'en at the pe
if they do not do their duty. I
county board chosen as indiea
will be responsible to the peo
also, with every incentive tog
a good administration. The wl
key purchased in that way v
be as pure and as good as <
be obtained under any possi
conditions, and there is absolu
ly no way in which corrupt
can creep in, it there is the le
etVort on the part of the peo
and the Governor to prevent i
SLAI'S AT TUP. GOVERNORS
The trouble with the disp
sir.v now is that our Govern*
have neglected their duties fl
have not kept supervision o
the workings of the local disp
*ers and the Stat?? board, lvvc
may be found for this by .say
the Legislature put the (lisp
sary l.eyond the Governor's c,<
trol. This is true in a way an(
was a very great mistake,
the Governor's oath of oflice
i| i ires Li in t<> th tt the hi
are executed in mercy/' A
wi It the power t?? appoint c
stables at his discretion and
leelives also when needed,
cannot be denied that, the
moraliza'ion hii 1 corrupt
which have been ?o much
I evidence would have been |
vented b\ the <i tvernors us
| tru-'e 1 airents to keep super
I sinn over the lispc ua.y syst<
j and *ee whether the law ^
! being carried out. 1 did this,
! mv successors seem to hi
thought it unnecessary or
| much labor. I not only watel
the dispensers, but 1 watel
th* constables too through a
tective who reported to me ale
' The necessity tor the more ri
' enforcement ol a'l law ma
i
nivb -1 V I? VLI1 13 KCH tUI;Y.
I
)v | the coming election for Governor
es. J important. Things have b-?a
the run too loosely ai d too liu e
die 1 regard paid to enforcing the law.
es, | I criticise no one, but simply
th- give the people the tacts as I see
in them, ami, of course, they alone
ire i can apply the remedy. We
est should elect the Governor who
ot: will do this aud'do it fearlessly
, I and zealously, but there is still
iiit small opportunity for graft, in
ler scheme outlined, provided ti?e
tea Legislative committee which
elv superintends the other State inem
stitutions and the grand juries
nd of the various counties pay h.to
tention to their duties. No govny
ernment has ever been devise 1
it that would run itself and every
ia government is an index of the
"Hit i III pit uronco " ? '-1 " ' '
. ? jiuuin; spirit a u u
li- patriotism of its j eople. If the
les people are ignorant and indiffer
or ent, and cease to watch and look
.nd after their affairs, the governnl
ment ^tliey give themselves is
ng inevitably bad and they can
ix- blame no one but themselves,
ate
HAPS Til K LKOISLATURK
J Id
ro- ^ie conditions in the dispense
8arY now are directly tracea^'e
a], to the blundering and neglect oi
the Legislature. That body placed
the^; State dispensary in the
hands of three politicians, elect
eu wmiou' consideration to bta*
ness, experience or character,
'he t'irew 110 restrictions whatever
(ed ?round the administration, le:t
pie t!,e ^"or w^e open, limited the
ive 8a,Hry to $400 and now we see
li the'resnll. I have always said
yj]] and believed it was designed]/
'an ,0 clet?tr<>y it- Politics an 1
hie not fi'ness have most always
je controlled. the Legislative ole>
jon tions. but no amount of salary
Kt., alone would cure the evil of
pie vv^'c^ we complain,
j 'J'he original hoard was composed
o! the Governor. Attorney
General and Comptroller Generen
al, three o! our highest State
ors officials'elected by the peop,e,
md hut tlie vital mistake was in not
ver making s'riol rule-' an 1 regu i
en- tions for t lie]purchase of whiskey,
u-o The enemies of the dispens try
i"g declare that it cannot be pu ien
tied. This cry is indicative th>t
in- those who thus contend prac-i1
it c illy conies- tlr?t they have lo-A
yet alh faith in the honesty ol man :r
re-1 of the ability <>t" men to give
Ill's I >!.? 1 ? - - - - 1 '
11n- him* i \ t: *> , u*>L iJ 11.* ,i >!! eSL f?0 7>-*?tl
eminent. 1 for one do not b do*ve
on- that all of the honest men are
<le- j dead,
it '
I PKOI'I.K ARK RIOHTI.V niSUl'STKD.
deion
Pe?P'c :irp disgusted a .d
jn they have n tiiiht to l?e, '
)re ! one rnnie which i?o-y shorn <* ?t
j?,f forgive is the failure ol the last
Legislature to change the lav;
em 'a9 *? prevent any further
v;isjingand to restore the dispensary
!,?! system to its original purpose,
lVP that ol co; r ling whiskey and
minimizing he evils inseparable
lied from its sale and u-e. The ene
I . ? .
mies or the (tippet sarv wore boi t
do- ?!l killing it, and the cnmbinat:'?n
?no ot P?li'ical and other inlltien "8
?j(j in the H<?u?e having failed m
kes| (Concluded on 1* ?ge Kight.