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It t(rl .., ta g. I KI IEB Y S. . T U 4 1I A W YOL. XLII. NO. 83 NEWBERRY. S. C.. TUESDAY JULY 4,1905. TWICE A.EK 1.0YA After A Long Tillman THE SENIOR SENATOR DISCUSSES DISPENSAY HE STILL BELIEVES IN THE SYSTEM. He Discusses At Length The Sub ject In All Its Various Phases. Newberry, S. C., June 27th, 1905. Hon. B. R. Tillman. Trenton, S. C. Dear Sir: You have probably seen from the columns of the papers that we are in the midst of an anti-dispensary move ment in Newberry. I believe that the majority of the agitators of said movement are actuated by pure mo tives, and have only what they con ceive to be the best interests of the county at heart. During the discus sion relative to such movement, you have been frequently referred to in su:h a way as to cause your friends to desire an expression of opinion from you in regard to the following points: ist. Have you lost faith in the dis pensary system? and do you consid er it so inherently defective that it can not be purged of corruption and made to serve its original purpose? 2nd. What would you advise those whc have been friends of the dispen sary, but who in the present emerg ency might entertain some doubt as to their duty? 3rd. Is the statement which is go ing the rounds of t'he papers that you are likely to enter a campaign in fa vor oi prohibition correct. or merely -a baseless fabric? 4th. In the event that the dispen sary is voted out in a majority of the counties. what in your opinion would be the result? You will greatly oblige your friends in Newberry by replying at your -earliest convenience with permission for oublication. Very respectfully, Frances W. Higgins. Trenton, S. C., July, ist. Io. Mr. Francis WV. Higgins. Newberry. S. C. Dear Sir-I have your letter of June a7th. propounding certain in gquiries in regard to the anti-dispen sary movement in Newberry, and to, the dispensary and liquor question in general. and to my own attitude to wards it. . The questions you ask relate to the most important subject now agitat ing the minds of the people of the state. and in order to cover the groundl( at all satisfactorily it will re quire me to answer at some length and to cliscuss the subject in i:a various ohases. and this becomes the more necessary as you notify me in ad vance that you desire my answer for publEcation. I shall premise wthat I write by lay ing down certain general principles which will be disputed only by those who are fanatical and unwilling to con-dder any subject from any other standpoint than that of bigotry and prejudice. Mlost men will agree t-o the fnllowing: :az. All men love stimulants and are dsually slaves to some one kind, as witness the strong appetite which prsvails for coffee, tea. tobacco, beer. wine, brandy. wvhiskey, morp-hine. unipline. cocaine. etc. With the excep ::on of sonme of the drugs mentioned there are no injurious effects imme vitl perceptible and none of them imo(xicate except thos.e containing alcohol. Alcoholic beverages in mod -r::on are no more harmful than tea Silence Speaks Again or coffee probably less so. 2nd. The abuse of liquor by men drinking to excess has caused as muc]; or more crime and misery than any other one thing. 3rd. The proprer policing and control of the liquor traffic so as to minimise its abuses is one of the most perplex ing and troublesome questions with which any government has to deal. Men have never agreed as to any one method being best and never will, and there is a constant agitation of the subject in some form going on all the while in almost every state in the Union. 4th. Experience shows that some men will have liquor as a beverage and that no law has ever yet been de vised which will prevent them obtain ing it. Wise men are therefore con tent to reduce the evils of liquor selling and liquor drinking to the minimum and the question at issue in South Carolina now as it has been tihese fifteen or twenty years past, is how to do this. There is no need for any heat or passion in discussing the subject and we should divest ourselves of all preju dice in its consideration. Three poli cies have at one time or another been adopted in dealing with the question. License, high or low. prohibition and the dispensary system. Since 1893 the last named has been the method fol lowed in this state but all along there have been staunch advocates of the other two systems embracing within their ranks many of the most intelli gent and best people we have. - It is therefore eminently proper tihat we recognize these earnest, honest advo cates as having just what we claim for ourselves, no other purpose than that of the public welfare. And those of' us who have been the supporters of the dispensary system must meet them in argument and s+how from the experiences through which the peo ple of the state have passed as well as with force and logic that the ad vocates of both prohibition and high license are in error. You ask "Have you lost faith in the dispensary system and do you con sider it so inherently defective that it can not be purged of corruption and made to serve its original pur pose?" I answer most emphatically No. I believe the principle of state control and the sale of liquor through bonded officers to be the best that was ever devised, that it comes nearer to the ideal idea of teaching men to use liquor instead of abusing it. and throwing around its sale safe-guards which will be t'he best for the cause of temperance. There is no inherent defect in the scheme and if there be corruption and mal-administration in the enforcin-g of the dispensary law it is directly tracable to the legisla ture and to those who have been placed in charge of its execution. In the absence of any positive proof of corruption we must await with deep interest the investigation which is now under way and urge those in charge of that important work to earnest. thorough and speedy action. The people believe there is corrup tion and a great deal of it. Very many things go to show that this be lief has good foundation in fact. We ought to know as soon as possible iust what and how far men have been guilhy of unlawful behavior. The suspicion which now hangs over the dispnsary like a pall wvill cause many to hastily vote for its destruction who Iare still or have been strong believ er5 in the dispensary system as a means of controlling the sale of whis key. So I would say to rhe gentle men wvho are in charge of the inves tigation that they can do the people in the light and probing to the bot tom. We want to know what is wrong and we can then determine how to provide a remedy, while the criminal courts will or oug'ht to pro vide punishment for the wrong doers. The dispensary law has been under lire in the courts and on the hustings ever since the system was inaugurat ed. There has been only one general election in the state, the last in which it was not an issue. It won victory after victory for it was the main is sue in the election of 1894, in the elec tion for the constitutional conven tion in 1895, and in the state elections )f 1896, 1898, igoo and 1902. Those :andidates for public office who car ried its banners were always victor ous. What then has caused the pres ent unheavel? Why are petitions cir :ulating in a dozen or more counties asking for an election to vote it out inder the Brice law and that too in ounties in which, in the past its known advocates have always had large majorities? Have the people any greatcr faith in prohibition than :hey have had all these past years? I dc not think so. Are the advo :ates of high license any stronger :han they have been? J do not think o. I am bound to b!heve that the xisting dissatisfaction and desire to estroy the tispensary comes from he well nigh un %isai belief of the )eople that there is <.o-ruption in its tdmiinistration and herause the last Ic-Ilat re failed to take any action ther than to appoint a comnittee to nvestiga e. There v tre c+harges, vith h^w m.i .octh they were made l do not know. that the dispensary nf9:ence in the leg1slat'"e was par imount. Any how the friends of the ispensary anri it: enemies joined orces at the last mssicon to prevent any action and nothing was done, and inless public opin'io1 shall drive t1he egislature at its next session to some reform action which will purify the atmosphere there is no possible doubt hat all elements of opposition to the ispensary aided by many of its old riends will combine in the next elee :ion and kill the system. I do not iesitate to tell you frankly that if it ias become and is to remain a cor rupt political machine as is charged I can not defend it and will not do ;o. but will join tihe ranks of those who seek to kill it. I believe it can be reorganized and purged of corrup ion with safeguards thrown around it to prevent the recurrence of the present unfortunate and disgraceful rondition of affairs.. I can not now go) at 'ength into the details and give reasons but I will state briefly the causes as I see them which have pro duced the present situation. The purchase of liquor by any board ex-officio or otiherwise should be stopped. The original scheme which was hastily gotten up made the Gvernor. Attorney General, Comp troller general. ex-officio the state board of control. This was changed very soon i fter I left the governor's ofice and the legislature assumed control by the election of the board; andl in no instance since has my ad vice and opinion had any weight in shaping its management though I have .ried to pre, ent se.me: thiigs bt ing done and have urged others with ou success. It stands to reason that men who have to depend upon the suffrage of the whole people to get high office are or ought to be of a hgher type with better characters and in every way better fitted for respon sible positions involving t'he handling f public mn ney than those who with petty salaries are elected hy the legis lature. Politics always enters into a leilative election. People who vote fr a governor vote for him because f i ther qfualifications than that he would make a good dispensary direc tor. and fo,r this very reason the gov ernor is the best possible man to place in such a responsible posi:imn. nut es law j: fatally defectiv ein re- I gard to the purchase of whiskey ir not specifically defining in the most minute and binding manner just what kinds of liquor shall be bought and how it shall be bought without leav ng it to the discretion of any board Every detail should be worked oul ud then the law would execute it ;elf as far as that feature is concern -d. The board would then only need to supervise the conduct of state and :ounty dispensers, the same as the Asylum and Penitentiary are run. Now as regards the proposed elec .ion to vote out the dispensary. If :he dispensary is to be voted out it hould and must be voted out of the tate, not out by individual counties. Df course I recognize the deep seated ove of our people for local self gov !rnment and I would not compel any :ounty to retain the dispensary or zave one established therein if a ma >rity of the citizens want prohibi on with its acknowledged failure to )rohibit. But judging simply by the facts in the numerous elections that iave been held on the subject I be hat a large majority of the peo the state are as strong believ !rs in the dispensary system as I am tnd that they are only casting about iow for a method of relieving them ,elves of the corrupt machine which s said to be in charge in Columbia. .Iany states in the union have had :orruption in their state governments md their state treasurers have de aulted-have sometimes stolen hun Ireds of thousands of dollars-but no an has ever thought of abolishing :he machinery of taxation because of his. We have got to deal with liquor n some form and provide for its legi imate sale or we know it will find il egitimate sale. Shall we have high icense? I say no. That gives the nonopoly to the wealthy man as igainst the poor man, and we know from experience with bar rooms that t will be impossible to give any mar :he right to fill his store with liquor :o sell and then have him comply with he constitutional requirements and iot sell it at night and not have it Irunk on the premises. If the dis ;ensary is abolished I will stump the ;tate for prohibition rather than see high license. 1 have said this and il s the reason probably that the story s going the rounds about my stump ng for prohibition. But before we have prohibition or high license eith er I expect if my health continues good to give a very earnest discussior to the subject of. how to reform th< dispensary instead of destroying i' and to showing the true inwardnes1 :f the present movement. Let us suppose that the presen campaign against the dispensary bI county elections shall progress vic toriously as it has thus far and tha the majority of the counties.in the state vote it out. 'Will the questior be settled? By no means. The allianc< of prohibitionists, high license peopl< and blind tigers which is now waging successful war will have to continu4 the war between themselves after th< dispensary is defunct. ,Sensible mex will notl end their aid to any crusad< which only gives us "confusion wors< confounded" and produces a chaoti' condition with no comrpensaaion. Under the decisions of the Unitei States Supreme Court prohibition ani no other state regulation can preven liquor being shipped in by express fo personal use of individuals, and th jug traffic from Wilmington. Char lotte, Asheville. Atlanta. Augusta ani Savannah will be immense under pro hibition, and the money which nos goes into the dlispensary for the us of the towns and counties of the stat andl the school fund will he sent ou of the state to enrich the dealers an distillers or other states. Stills wi be run in every swamp and wagon will peddle liquor all over the stat< The only fight worth enlisting ini South Carolina is between prohibW tio a rigidly enforced as it can b and the dispensary as honestly en forced as it ought to be. High li cense is not to be thought of for a moment. Yet the prohibitionists say they prefer the dispensary to license and the license people say they prefer prohibition to the dispensary while the blind tigers want prohibition be cause they know it means free li quor. The elections now being held in the counties to vote the dispensary out are very different to the democratic primary election which will settle the question finally. In the first place the vote in those counties where elec tions have been held against the dis pensary has been very small as com pared with the regular vote. It re quires a certificate of registration to A vote at such election while in the pri mary the club rolls of the democratic clubs govern. Then men are indif ferent as they were in the prohibition election in 1892 when only sixty thousand out of ninety-two thousand voted in that box. There are prob ably thirty thousand or more good democrats in the state who from one cause or another are not able to vote in the elections held under the Brice act. That law was shrewdly drawn and for the express purpose of kill ing the dispensary I have been told. These thirty thousand will determine the question in the future as they have in the past because they will elect the legislature and the state officers in the state democratic primary in spite of any combination such as is now giving us prohibition by a nega tive process. Voting out the dispen sary not because the people want pro hibition but giving us prohibition be cause some people want free liquor, some people prefer to buy illicit liquor some people want high license and a - return io the old bar room system, while many people will do anything to kill the dispensary with the hope of profiting by its destruction. I would advise every advocate of tihe dispensary who is in doubt to vote against .putting the dispensary out et his county until we see what the report of the investigating com mittc :s and then whether or not the legislature at its next session will purge the corruption out of the dis pensary system and put safe-guards around it for the future. I say un hesitatingly it can be done success fully. The dispensary system has shown it-s strength in past elections because people thought it was honest i1 administered. All that is neces sary is to have them understand as they wvill understand by 19o6 that they must kill the law in order to' get rid of the corruption and tihey will make short work of it. It must be made clean or it must go. At present the campaign to vote it out county by county only brings about confusion, encourages blind tigers and causes the counties and state to lose money, and settles nothing, and it is impos sible to settle th'e question in this way. I repeat it can only be settled at the general democratic prirnary when all the people have heard all sides and have made up their minds intelligently. I desire to add in conclusion that practically I am a prohibitionist be cause I very rarely drink any liquor of any kind. If I believed that prohi bition could be enforced, understand ~ing as I do most thoroughtly the great evil attending the abuse of li -quor I would be a prohibitionist but Sknowing from the most searching in -vestigation and from the official rec ordls of the U. S. government that in eMaine and Kansas where prohibition p.evails that there has been a most tdismal failure to enforce the law I .prefer the dispensary as the lesser Ievil: and as I have often said in the Spast I believe that state control comes nearer to the ideal management of this troublesome question than any -other. e I have no personal interest in view