The people's journal. (Pickens, S.C.) 1891-1903, January 19, 1899, Image 1
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8. "%H ETP'S F R
VOL 8.-N0. . PICKENS, S. C., THURSDAY, JANUARY 89NEDLA AYA
THE GOVERNOR'S MASSAGE.
RE FAVORS THE DISPENSARY
WITH LOOAL OPTION.
Recommends That Counties Desir
Ing Prohibition Shall Pay Ex
penses for its Enforcement and
be Out Off From Dispensary
Profits for tsohools.
The annual message of Governor
Ellerbe has been sent to the General
Aseembl3, and as the discussion
of the liquor question will excite
most interest In the public mind,
we will give herewith only a
-very brief summary of the other parts
of the message, in order to present in
full what the Governor says about the
dispensary and local option.
Governor Ellerbe declare that the
finances of the State are in an unsatis
- factory condition, and it is evident that
one of two things will have to be done:
Either the appropriatione must be out
down or the tax levy raised. He urges
the Legislature to hold all elections at
once, in order that the public businers
may not suffer. He recommends bi
ennial sessionis of the Legislature,
limited to forty days, which will save
$26,000 every year. He discusses
lynching at length, and recommends
that it be made a high crime and mis
demeanoir for sheriffs or constables to
allow a prisoner to be taken by vlo
lence from their hands, and also that
counties shall be liable to the heirs of
the victim for $5,000, while the men
who are convicted of lynching shall be
deprived of the right to vote or hold
oflice in this State.
The following are the Governor's
views on the liquor question:
Nothing connected with the admin
istration of the State government at
this time is of so much interest and im
portance as the diopensary law. This
method of controlling the liquor traflic
has now been in force for five and a
half years, and the protracted and bit
ter struggle between its friendsand its
foes has reached a critical stage. It
must be firmly and permanently estab
lished or completely done away with.
It will be remembered that, at the
last session of the Legislature, the lit
igLti. n instituted in the United States
circuit court by Vandercook had
reached the supreme court of the
United States, on appeal from Judge
Simonton's decision. For almost a
year, there had'been absolute paralysis
of. the dispensary law, so far as its
punative features were concerned, and
the constables had all been discharged.
The dispensaries had been foreed to
fight free whiakey, on tUrms of abso
lute cquality; yet, strange to say, they
fought it successfully; for while the.
"rofits were reduced by this lawless
ition. there was still enough
business to make the dispensary self
supporting and leave a small margin
of profit. In May last, the supreme
court at Washington handed down its
decision, sustaining the constitutional
ity of the dispensary law in all its fea
tures with the limitation only as to lim
portation for personal use. The long
and hotly contested legal status of the
dispensary was removed. The original
package dealers at once closed their
shops and shipped their liquors out of
the State with my perassion. I did
not deem it wisA or right to take ad
vantage of them, as they had been do
ing business under the sanction of the
Federal judiciary. The constabulary
was reorganized and put to work, and
from that time to this the force has
been very busy trying to destroy the
unlawful tralfic which had gained foot
hold in the State under the protection
of Judge Simontou's decision.
I desire, in this connection, to recall
to your attention the fact that in 1891
the State supreme court, bsy dleclaring
the dispensary law unconstitutiwnal,
gave the illicit liquor dealers en~coiur
ment and as a result 'there was wide
spread demoralizasion, with liquor
selling prevalent almost, everywhere,
even in the cudntry, notwithstanding
the law prohibited its sale abeolutely.
After that decision had been roecrsed
and .the dispensaries reopened and a
more or less rigid enforcement of the
law for two years had extirpated in a
large measure the legal traffic, camne
the interference of tne Federal courts
and the imprisonment of the consta
bles for contqmupt.. This interference
gave encourag 6ment to a large number
of illicit dealers and induced them to
continue in the business; and when the
paralyzing decision in the Vandercook
ease came, there was a phenomenal in
crease in the number of illicit dealers
engaged in this traflic in South Caro
lina. This is shown by the number of
United States revenfte licenses i-sued.
In the fiscal year ending June 20, 1897,
the number of internal revenue li
censes, or permits to sell liquor, were
322; in the year ending June 30, 189)8,
there were 025. in other words, the
present unsatisfactory condition,
and I do not hesitate to say
that it is MPsatisfactory, notwith
.standing the 6na I triump~h in the
courts-is owing in large measure,
to the - interference of the Federal
judge, with the consequent encourage
ment .to all who saw fit to engage in
the sale of liquor, nothing more b-ing
required than to pay the United States
* revenue licenses. It haA taken months
of laborious and strenuous effort to re
store the cofnditions of a tolerably suc
cessful working of the dispensary law
which pst iled at the time when the
Vandercoo-< decision was rendered.
The friends of the dispensary and those
who have too readily turned thetir
backs on it, should bear all this in
mind and still evidence hope and pa
tience.
The demoralization produced by the
various causes mentioned can be read
Ily overcome in time, and the law will
work more successfully and be obeyed
more willingly as time goes by. Our
efforts should be especially directed to
perfecting the system in its adminis
trative features.
There are a great many peopile who
will never be friendly to the dlispen
sary system or to any like regulation.
Many men are opposed to it on princi
pie, some as extreme prohibitionists
and -some as extreme advocates of
liquor traffic. These two widely sepa
rated camps meet on common ground
*in their host'Mhty to the d isnensary;
others are influenced by political con
siderations, and oven by past political
prejudices, now happily being fast die
sipated. The dispensary law ought to
be judged by its fruits rather than by
motives of political prejudice or self
interest. If these fruits have not been
hitherto altogether of the kind or
quality. that It. fridnds still hope to
see it bear, there is\yet sufficient prom
ise to ask that this tree, which has
been almost uprooted and blasted by
the blight of judicial interference,
shall now be given opportunity to sher
what it can bring forth under fosteripg
and friendly influences. I beg to re
mind yon thatt the toeginning of my
term asovernor, I recomm'ended and
urged this policy, and I have seen no
reason to change my opinion. The
law has never had a chance hitherto
to show what it can do, but now, since
there is no longer any question as to
legal limitations or powers, we are free
to address ourselves to perfecting and
improving the system. *The large vote
received by the Prohibition candidate
for Governor in the second primary of
the late election cannot be considered
entirely an endorsement of prohibition,
for there is excellent reason to conclude
that the Prohibition candidate polled
the full prohibition vote in the flrst
primary, while in the second he polled
the vote of the majority of the antag
onists of the dispensary system, from
whatever cause that antagonism arose,
and, in addition, the strength f all the
"sore-heads" and disgruntled offlice
seekers and politiciat:s of both factions.
The election in Oharleston is a strik
ing evidence of thie, it will hardly be
disputed that, if the people of Charles
ton want irohibition, as their votes
seem to show, it is because they feel
sure that under that system there will
be practically no restraint on the Bale
of whiskey.
Turning now to the practical con
struction of the dispensary, I do not
think whiskey should be sold in any
county where a majority of the people
favor prohibition. I, therefore, recom
mend the submission of the liquor
question to the qualified electors of
each county, that each county may
vote as it prefers. Any county, how
ever, that votes for prohibition should
be made to bear all expenses of enforc
ing the prohibition law; and such
county should not receive any of the
profits from the dispensary. Under
the Constitution, the profits accruing
from the sale of liquor go to the sup
port of our free school-. Now, the
county of Marlboro, which never had
a dispensary, and which is now under
the most rigid form of prohibition
with no possibility of legal liquor truffle
within its borders, receives its propor
tionate share of dispensary profits.
Of course, these counties may hale
liquor imported for personal use with
out restriction, but it cannot be sold In
them legally. I believe that it is but
right and just for those counties which
have prohibition, or may hereafter
adopt it as the means of .controlling t
the liquor trallia, to be taxed to enforce I
such laws, nor should they receive any t
part of the profits arising frem the sale
of l!quor in the coanties, to add to I
their school funds. If the county ofil
cers, magistrates and sheriffs, enforce V
the law, well and good-there will be
no need for constables; but if they do
not, the governor should be given the
authority, upon petition setting forth
such violation, to appoint constable s,
and to require a levy in such counties
sutlicJent for their maintenance.
Now let us consider the matters eon- t
corning the administration of the law i
other than those mentioned as dealing r
with its violations. When the diepen- h
sary system was first inaugurated, the <
State board was composed of the gov- I
ernor, the comptroller general and the t
attorney general, ex offlicio, and in I
these was vested the power to appoint s
the State commissioner and the county a
board of control, and to exercise gen- s
eral supervision over the working the i
dispensary in the whole State. After
the retirement of Gov. Trillman, in the<
mIddle of Gov. E'vans' term, the iegisla
turo changed this provision, and cre
ated a new State hoard of control, con
sisting of five members, to be elected 1
by itself. The governor was left withouti
oflicial connection with the dispensary,i
except the right to appoint and control
the constables. This system has now
been In force three years, and, in my
opinion, it has failed to accomplish the
purposes of its advocates. The idea
was to d.ivorce the dispeoniary system
from politics and to put It under a
strictly business manag--ment. No such
result has followed. It is hiotorious
that the dispensary is as much or more
in polities than it ever was. As gov
ernor, I have had little or no authority
in connection with thbe administr-ation
of the la w, and no power of restraint
or direction over it ; and yet I have
been held responsible by the people at
large, and by my enemies in particu
lar, fo: the mistakes and shortcomings
of its management. Responsibility
without authority is a most unpleasant
and unjust b-.arden ; and while I do not
seek aciditional responsibilities in con
nection with the dispensary, submit
that justice and fairness make it neces
sary either to relieve the governor ah
solutely of all connection with this in
stitution, or eiso give him some poten
tial voice and Iiluenco in its affairs.
The legislature itself, last session,
by a particularly unanimous resolu
tion, deprecated and almost forbade
the grantIng of beer and hotel priv
ilcges, but the State board of control
paid no attention to this expression of
opinion from the law-making body, and
I had to use the constabulary to sup
press the nuisances In form of open
barrooms, which resulted from the
granting of these privileges Tuis
br-ought me into antagonism with the
State board of control -an antagonism
which ilght have been avoidied had
these gentlemen paid any heed to my
suggestion or consulted ire as to the
best policy to be puirsred. As long as
the original package stores we re run
ning in Open compeotition with the dis
pensary, and illIcit sales weore also
unchecked, there was, perhaus, some
excuse for the State hoard of control
to continue that policy ; but after the
supreme court of the United State had
confirmed the validity of the dispen
sary law, and forbidden Judge SImon
ton s sup port of the State's competI
tors, leavIng the dispensary law In full
possession of the fIeld, E did not thInk
there Awas any excuse for the contin
uance i~ the-policy upheld by the State
board, for I believed' the former law,
andi believe the present law, shouldl be
administered as a temperance measure
wIth no regard whatever to the matter
of nrofit or to anything other. tha t
teach the people to use whiskey witi
out abusing it, and to minimise, as fa
as possible, the evils inseparably cor
nected with its trallo and .use. Morc
over, under the present system, th
State commissioner is a mere figure
head, without power and almost with
out duties, The State board of contrc
have absorbed nearly all of his func
tions.
I submit what seems to me to be th
best plan of organization: The, detail
of the business should be turned ove
to the State commissioner, while th,
board of control should have authorit;
to purchase liquors and to exerois,
general supervision over the whol,
syste m. The board of control shoul'
be appointed by the governor, with th,
advice and consent ot the senate, an
the cofstables should be appointed b,
the board of control and State commis
sioner. If objection is made, it may b,
pointed out that the regents of thi
hospital for the insane are appointei
by thb gbvernov, and the managemen
of the institution is excellent. Note
also, the members of the present boarn
of control are not even required to givi
bond for the faithful performance o
duty, yet they have absolute control o
an institution doing annually a millio
and a half dollar business.
The county boards of control shouk
be abolished, and two or three in
pectors should be appointed to lool
after the dispenser's books and th<
breakage. This would be a much mort
economical method than the one non
pursued. This system of organization
together with the supervision (of the
grand juries, would reduce peculatior
und embezz!ement to the smallesl
amount possible. The State commis
sioner might be either appointed by
the State board or elected by the gen.
)ral assembly. We have both systeas
3ow in force in the State. The super
ntendont of the hospital for the insane,
Nho is giving perfect satisfaction, is
kppointed; the superint ndent of the
>enitentiary,' an equally illcient ofil
er, is elected by the general assembly.
3ut there should be vested somewhere
ie power by which both State com
nissioner and county dispensers might
) suspended, and, if necessary, be re
noved for cause.
I uggest, also, what seems to me a
iceded improvement, and that is a
:hange in the manner of purchasing
iquors. Whiskey is as much a staple
6rticle as corn or flour, though it varies
n quality and price, according to age
nma the methods of distillation and
nanipulation. The large bulk of liquor
sonsumed by the pole is obtainable
a abiolutely pure form and of good
iuality, witnout the necessity of re
:uu rse to chemical analysis, for it can be
ojught directly from the government
varehouses without paEsing through
he hands of rectifiers and manipula
or8, who are alcaost sure to adulterate
t for the sake of profit. I think that
he law should provide that purchas.s
bould be made, under annual con
racts, with parties who would agree
o furnich liquors from the bonded
varebouses of the United States of the
equired age and strength, upon the
iost reasonable tarms. These con
racts should be let in such a way as to
reclude all possibility of collusion or
raud. If blended or rectified whiskeys
,rc bought, as is now the case, there is
,bsorlutelv no safe itr by which adul
eration can bo shown, unless the liquor
s so bad as not to be lit to drink. Tnese
emarks apply to the X and XX whis
,eys, or liquors of the fIrst and second
juality, enumerating from the lowest
o the highest, as has been the rule in
he State. I do not believe it is repu
able, in the State's businet-s, that there
hould be aswarm of whiskey drummers
neeting at Columbia o-ce a month to
ell the required supply in drib ets.
0rrangements should h made under
on tract for the purchase, as I have in
licated, and the ordters for oAitional
upplies would go forward wa )much
issurance of being hones'.y ,j \as if
alt or bacon were bonght '' ecial
>ralnds and wines re.quire~ d( he
>urchased in the same wth, ..nd as
hose constitute only a email part of
he busin< as, no change need beii ~mdo
n the present modes of buying them.
There is another matter that app ,ars
,vorthy of mention. Wihh the expe
-icnce gained by the employes in bot
llug and packing and shipping of
Jquors, there ought to be practicaliy no
reakago, if the bottles were of good
luiality and the packing were well donc,
or the cars are toaded alongsido the
state dispensary building and therie ii
>ardly ever a tr-ansfer from one road tc
mnother. This matter of breakage hat
>~ecn the main rsa on for continuing the
:ounty boards of control. .It can bc
ieadily seen what a saving would fol
ow if these boards were abolished, and.
t can be safely asserted that the pro
venstion of breakage would make thoec
~oards no longer necessary.
There is one other matter to which ]
ovite the careful attention of the gon.
ral assembly: it is with regard to the
mportation of whiskey for personal use.
i'he protetion given by the supreme
mourt to those who desire to exercise
his right, in good faith is In noe sense
>bjectionable. The State does not need,
nor does it wi-lh to restrict its citizen1
in this right; but the abuse of it gives ai
loophole for illicit dealers to obtain their
supp)lics, under the pretense that it is
for personal use. T~h> provision of thec
law which was declared unconstitutional
in this re-p ct, I think can be anmended
so an to mn tke the importation of such~
liquors come within the terms of th(
court's ccree. Bunt for the opportunity
thus alfo'ded to evadle the~ law, by im
p)orting ,iquor unider the pretense thai
it is for personal use, there would soor
ba small re ed for constablcs..I carnesto
urge that the judiciary commnttec
coosder the subject carefully in thu
light of Justice White's opinion, an
see if some provision for inspction can
not be enacted, that, while imposing rn
onerous burdens on the cit'zon who imu
po0r ts for his own usa, will yet, irsur<
t he import atlon of pur e lquors, and
limit, as far as5 posSIble, the abuse o:
this right for the purposes of sale. Le
th~e la1w delirec fully and clearly the
methods to be followed in such cases..
have alreadly p)oit.ted out, how we mna.
purchase, for the dilspens-.ry, ilquor.
tha~t are p)ure; someC provision requirinj
b mded warehouse s'.ampa on iiquori
con~udll ini Sou.h Ca-olina, it seems t<
mel, wouldl amnwer the purpose; but
only throw out t'he suggestion for wha
it is worth ansd call ettenit;on to the sub
jnet han ,sn of ies impoetance.
ELLE~RB'S L0CAx, OPTION.
r
EDi 'Olt GONZALKS IN TROUBLE.
The Governor Did Not Keep ilis
Promise and the Editor ofTho State
Denounces Him in SBathing Terms.
In the interval before the second prl
mary last summer between Governor
Ellorbe and Mr. F1eatherstone, every
daily newspaper in South Carolina,
B with the exception of the ColumoIa
r State, supported Foather8tono and
3 bitterly attacked Governor Ellerbe.
There was such antagonism to the dis
3 peesary system and to the Governor
3 personally, it wae generally predicted
I and believed that the votes of the other
3 candidates in the first primary would
I go to Featherstone on the second and
nominate him.
The Columbia State was anti-dispen
3 sary and anti-prohibition, and had
3 been for a year supporting r mode of
1 settlement by county option, between
t high license, prohibition and the Stato
dispeneary. On account of the absence
I of Editor Gonzales in Cuba, The State
3 had not taken a very active part in the
canpaign. A few days before the
I second primary, in a signed editorial,
it came out for Governor Ellerbo, pro
mising the local option and license ad
i vocates that it would be to their inter
ost to support him. The second pri
mary resulted in a scant majority for
E llerbo. Efforts to draw an explana
tion from the newspaper were unsuc.
cessful. It asked its friends to await
the meeting of the Legislature.
When the Legislature convened and
Governor Ellerbe's messago was read,
it suggested county option between the
dispensary and prohibition systems, but
with such conditions about voting for
prohibition as to discourage the adop
tion of the system. The message ig
noted high license altogether and
made a long appeal for the mainten
anco and fortification of the dispensary
system.
Editor Gonzales was so bitterly dis
appointed at the outcomo of his nego
tiations with Governor Ellerbo that he
has made a full statement in regard to
the matter, claiming breach of faith
on the part of Ellerbe, and denouncing
him in the most scathing and unparlia
mentary terms. The main portion of
his statement is as follows:
STATEMENT OF MR. GONZALES.
. arrived in Columbia on theevening
of September 5, but finding myself in
almost total ignorance of what had hap
pened in South Carolina an I the world
since the middle of June ard be3ing
somewhat "dazid " by a return to
civilization, I did not at once resume
my editorial work, Intending to study
up a week or two before tttempting it.
On September 7, however, the Spar
tanburg Herald made an attack on the
dispensary system and called on me to
join In the fight, and that night I wrote
an editorial, which appeared next day
in The State, giving my "hearty assent
to the propositions so well put by the
Spartanburg Herald," but stating that
on account of my lack of information
as to the campaign, the pledges of the
candidates, their platforms and their
alliances I would be " compelled, with
regret to be a bystander." In addition
to these stated reasons I had two others.
(1) Contrary to my inestructions an
editorial mildly endorsing Gov. Ellerbe
had ueen printed in The State during
my absence, and it seemed to tie my
nands ; and (2) I was informed that Mr.
Featherstont, had pledged himself to
general 'prohibition and nothing but
that, a circumstance that made me
even more hopeless of the promotion
of my local option plan through him
than through Gov. Ellerbo, because I
was sure Mr. Featherstone would do
what he said and I was not sure that
Gov. Ellerbe would.
That afternoon, September 8, when
I went to The State o1licc I found a
note on my table from the cashier
stating that Mr. Weston and Col. Neal
had been to the ollce to see me and,
having failed to do so, asked me to be
sure to meet them that night at Mr-.
Weston's bank office. I kept the ap
pointment.
We talked for nearly an hour on in
different topics. At last Col. Neal said
to me, slapping his knee :
" Well, let's come down now to busi
ness. Nearly every paper- in the State
ie jumping on the governor; ho's pretty
hadly worried and is very anxious for
you to help him out. Can't you do it?"
I replied that I had told Gov. Ellorbo
all along that I would not support him
for renomination if he stuck to the dis
pansary, and he had stuck to it.
Mr. Weston said : "'Tho bimp~le fact
of the matter is that the Governor
feels he is obliged to have the support
of The State, and we have asked you
here to find out on what condit'-ans you
will support him."
Without hesitation aud orn the spur
of the moment I replied : " If he will
pledge himself to me in writing to
urge the Legislature to pass a local
option law, allowing each county to
decide for itself between high license,
prohibition and the dispensary. I will
support him." This idea had been with
me for a year ; it had been the objec t of
all my effort the previous fail and
winter, and it came spontaneously to
m'y llips. I did not stop to consider the
price I might have to pay in p)ublic
misunderstanding of my motives If he
should accept my terms.
Mr. Weston looked at Col. Neal and
then said : " I don't think therme w ill
he much trouble about that ; do you,
Colonel?" And Col. Neal replied, to
mec : " I think he'll do it easy enough;
hc's got to do it if you insist."
Mr. Weston then asked me if a ver
bal assurance would satisfy me. I tbid
him no; there had been too much
question about Ellerbe's verbal assur
ances already ; I must have it In black
and white for my own protction-but
he could teli the Governor that 1 would
not show the pledge to any body unless
he failed to observe it, in which ease I
would. Then Mr. Weston asked:
" Would you objet to having the le tter
addressed to mec ? I am going to Char
leston to try and help the Governor
down there and I woula like to be able
to show it t> some of the politicians."
I answered that I would not object to
that, but that after he had used it in
Charleston I must have the custody of
the paper.
Trhe conference broke up with their
assurance tI at they would see the Gov
ernor next day and bring me his an
swer.
- The nex', day, Friday, September 9,
Mr. Weston came to my room amd
handed me an envelope bearing the
famillar engraved lettering, " State o
South Carolina. Executive Chamber
Columbia," and addressed : " Mr. F. H
Weston, Columbia, S. C., Personal.'
Opening it I read :
CoLUMIA, S. C., Sept. 8, 1898.
(Confidential.)
Dear Froaik : In reply to your in
quiry, will say-1 fully concur in your
view as to the best solution of the liquor
question. After mingling with the
peoplo for three months and thorough
consideration I have come to the con
clusion that the )lspensary Act should
be amended so as to allow each coun
ty to settle the liquor question for
itself, and have determined to make
such reco:umor dation to the next Gon
oral Assembly.
Your friend.
W. 11.ELlm.
To Mr. i.'. 11. Weston.
All of this e.ept the printed caption
and dato lino was in Gov. Ellerbo's
handwriting. The dato wias wrong
on day behind.
it was not its preciso a pledge as I
would have dictated, but whatever of
vagueness there might be In the phrase
" alluw Cach County to settle t le liquor
question for itsel! " was ohfset by the
initial statemient, I fully concur in
your view as to the best solution of
the liquor question." I knew, and it
was a matter of pu1blic knowledge and
record, that it'. Weston's " viOw" was
the same its my own ; that he favored
county choice betwoon the dispensary,
high license and )rohibItion. White
I (lid not have any conildence in Gov.
Ellerbo's siml)e word I did not believe
lie would dare to incur the obloquv of
OIx)8uro for violating this pled un t
I thought I had him fast. As Nir.
Weston .was going that afternoon to
Charleston and wished to uso the ori
ginal to secure votes for the Governor
there, I took it copy of the letter on
his promnisa to hand mo the original
on his return. le did return it, and I
have kept it in my pocket most of the
time since.
I must confess that the Governor's
prompt, compllianco with my ultimatum
was not altogether gratifying, for I
had thought the matter over and con
cluded that to carry out my part of the
agreement would subject me to much
criticism and perhaps suspicion of my
motives and that I would have to with
hold my justihication until the Lgis
lature met. On this account I half
regretted my impulsiveness, which
had entailed upon me a severe ordeal.
But the thing wits done, and I went to
work in good faith to carry out my
part of the compact, having the satie
faction of feeling that I had acted
wholly for tile public good. The next
morning The Stato contained a signed
editorial urging high license voters tu
sup)ort Ellerbe, and each day until the
election the palor did its best for him,
If it changod as many as 2,600 votoi
which would otherwise have gone U
Featherstono it is responsible, I regrol
to say, for his nomination.
I did not see Gov. ElPerbo from th
time I returned from Cuba until som<1
three weeks after his nomination b,
the second primary. He had called a
my ofice when I was out, and had son
me messages asking me to visit him
so I wont one day to his cfllo at tht
State House. Afteir an exchange o1
civilities he asked my opinion of th(
clause in the State constitution per
initting the issue of licenses for the
Qal of liquor, saying that according to
that clause ali iiquors sold under high
license would have to be bought from
the State dispensary. I analyzed the
section and showed that it could boar
no such intorpretation. He persisted
in his claim, however, and 1 realized
that he was trying to find a loophole
by which to escape the redemption of
his pledge. This realization angered
me so much that I could hardly trust
myself to speak. I pacd fuming up:
and down the executive chamber and
inally told him that I was in no mood
to be dallied with in that fashion; that
if he intended to bunco me as several
newsp~japers had predicted lhe gul .do
lhe might resj..assured~thM 1T would
publish the pledge aind show up the
whole malair. Then 1 started out, but
as I had my hand on the door-knob hec
called 'mo back and ofoered to leave the
interp~retation of the clause to any
lawycor I would select. J. proposeL
Chief Justice Mciver, but he objected.
I then suggested Mr. R. W. Shand and
Gen. Le~oy F. Youmans, and he chose
Mr. Shand and Bald he would submit
the question to him. (Weeks after
ward I questioned Mr. Shand, and he
told mc that the Governor had not sald
a word to him about it.)
The mnain Issue then camne up, after
some talk, and Gov. Eliotrbe bare
facLodiy doenied that he had made any
agr'eemient whatever. (I had his letter
in my pocket at the tLImo.) HeI at
tempijted to unload the whole responsi
bility on Weo.ton and Neal, saying he
had told them w hen he( w rote the letter
that he had not changedi his views,
was still for the d isp~ensar-y andl would
make no agreement. Assuming an airi
of virtuous 1ind1ignation he said he~
would send for them and make their
sot hIm right. (lie never did.) I was
so dIsgusted that, I again started ta
leave, saying I would expose the whoh
afairi and let, him settle it with Nea
and Weston as lhe could ;but again he
bogged mnc to comic back, and then
leaving lis scat and coming to my side
in front of tile wvest, w'ndow at- his
right hand, h10 said :" Don't get mad
let's talk thIs thing over quietly anm
ee if we car't, compromise It." Am
then he prop~osed to do precisely wha
he had promised and what I had ox
pected-to urge the Legislature t<
pass an act permitting each county to
choose by ballot bet~ween prolhihitlion
high license and the dispensary. I
was a lightning change on his part ain
almost took my breath away,
Hie Went on to say that this was n<
new thing on his p art; that ho ha<
held those views be forc ho had writtoe
the letter to Weston and had told Wb
D). Evans of thenm. Then he added
"But I don't suo how I can put through
an ad ministration measure carryi
out the plan:' I answered that hlal
did Dot matter ; that I did not, liko thh
"ad ministration measure " Idea any
now, and that I thought in tils ease Il
might do as much harm as good. All
I expected was that ho would (do wha1
he had promised to do andt leave th'<
conequences with tho Logislature
Hoe said again that ho would make thesa
recognmendatione, and~ I went awa:
satified.
F did nn4 see Gov. Ellorbe again unt.i
i last Saturday aftornoon. On Friday
Mr. Weston informed me that the
Governor had read him that part of
his message relating to the liquor
question, and that it seemed to nim
tuiroughout an argument for the roten
t on of the dispensary system, although
it did make a brief and bare suggestion
as to letting the people of the counties
settle the question for themselves. He
did not like it, he said. I told him
that if the message did not come up to
promise I would show up Ellerbe ruth
Iessly. The next day, Saturday, Mr.
Weston gave me a proof of the liquor
section of .he message, with an invita
tion from the Governor to call on him
at the mansion at 5 o'clock that afte
noon. I road the proof and was gre
ly incensed at what I found in it.
disinclination to see the Governor was
strong, as I was afraid I could not con
trol my temper after this revelation of
his duplicity ; uut as I did not wish to
bring Col. Neal and Mr. Weston into the
matter-as I must do if I oxposed 1Iler
bo-I finally determined to keep the
appointment.
At 6 o'clock I went to the executive
mansion and found the Governor con
versing with a visitor. When the
latter loft I told him that I had road his
liquor recommendations and was
greatly eurprised and disappointed ;
that he had not said what, he had
pledged himself to say ; that he had
dofoatd his half-way endorsement, of
local option by other recommendations
of the etrongest character. le asked
mo to spooliy. I pointed out tis para
graph, for one : " It (the diepensary)
must be firmly and prrmanontly
established or completely done away
with." This, I said, clearly moant the
establishment of the dispensary on its
Irosont basis or its ollnination from
the whole State-it was advorso to par
tial elimination under the iniluonce of
local option. Then I showed that tho
context of his recommendation as to
local option limited the choice to pro
hibition and the dispensary only,
wholly ignoring high license as an
alternative. This, I said, was not
what he had uromised me ; if adopted
it would defeat, the very policy to
which I was committed and which I
pruforred-high license. I wont on to
say that the whole deliverance was
obnoxious to his professions and
pledgos, and that I quite understood
his motive in limiting the choice to
prohibition and the dispensary anu in
Imposing special and onerous burdeons
on prohibition countles-ho iought to
forceo the dispensary on the people as
the only endurable alternative.
le had made the word of promise to
the car and broken it to the hope, I
said. lie replied, with marvellous Of
frontory, that he had made no pro
mises, that L'rank Weston had not
acted properly in concealing from me
what he had said, and that he would
amake him publish his letter. I an.
swored that I would do that; that I
proposed to show the publie that I al
least had acted in good faith. I go
up, bade him good evening, and walker
out of his sitting room, while he w.v
saying " You can do as you please.
IT MAY BE A MAIaCOT1.
Bill Arp Talks About tle Figure C
no it A ppears in t Ie Now Year-H ik
Terns Of Peace With the North.
1899. 1 was ruminating about thh
riddle of the 9's. I and 8 are 9, and thal
makes threo 9's in a row. 18 aro two
9's, and that makes four 9's in a row
The three 9's makes 27, and the 2 and
7 mako 9. The four 9's make 36, and
Ghe 3 and 6 make 9. Maybe this year
of the 9's is to be a mascot and we will
have peace and pros perity in the land,
Maybe the lion will lay down with thc
lamb, and the nations shall beat their
swor-ds into plowshares and not learn
war any mci-c..
Maybe, I say. But theo-e are some
signs of peace on this sido of the water
-poeaco between the North and the
iSouth. McKinley has made a break
of it, and if lie can control his party,
Congress will lix up our Confederate
graveyards. Then the next thing will
be to pension our Confeder-ate vetoerans
and widows just like they do their-s,
and lat of ail, to apologizec. I never
will ho satIsfied until they ap)ologlzo
and beg our pardon. Any gentleman
will do that and feel bctta- for having
done it, for they know by this time
that they were In the wrong, though
it has t:.kcn a long time for them to
find it out and repent,. Surely we are
tho most forgiving people in the world,
or we wou ldn't, make so much ado over
the offer to fix up our graveyards, for
the truth is, our women have already
fixed them up and our dead are coin
fortable under their care. But it is a
sign of good will and foreshadows an
ap~ology in the near future. Tromu Rocd
wants to got ahead of McKinley in the
South, and I expect will introduce a
Ilill of Apology at the next session.
PensIons and apologies will be his
slogan. It won't, take a great deal of
money for our veterans and widows,
for there are not many left,, but, it wIll
cause those who arc left to live longer,
for
"'Lime cuts down all,
l ioth gr-eat and small,
I-xcept a pension soldler-.
They (10 not die,
liot multiply
And never grow any older.
An old fr-iend told me that the aliena
tion betwoont the North and South was
owing more to diet and climate than
- I, was to slavery or negroes. Baid ho,
they live on cold broad and canned
a' goods and cod lish, and drink iced tea,
while we llvo on ham and eggs and hot
t r-olls and heat biscuit and drink coffee.
tTheIr dIet, Is as cold and shivering as
thofr clImate, while ours is rich and
warm and stimulating like our Pun
Ishine. Ilence, they are Incl~ned t' b~e
coldhearted and selflsh. We feasitcd
-McKinley down here on Southern food,
and warmed him to the heart and
made him feel generous and kind, and
a:> he made that Confederate spc"'ih
and wore that veteran's badge becaust
he felt good inside, if ho hia 1 stayed
down there a few weeks longer hc
would have spoken for pensions and
apologized.
Maybe there is something In that
for I have observed that Northern pee
ple who dom~cile with us for an3
length of time always take our sid<
and defend us. But my candid opinlor
is that the classes at the North wh<n
are most in the way of peace rikoeditOx
and prea1thers. Trhe editors want some
scandal to fov.t4r readers -On'An
the abuse of the Sou%* like re
stock in trade and Is' A ft
mand. It is a good oe
party and keeps it solid, 4603fieir,
readers differ on home polI
can always harmonize by abugik ' .
The loading New York Be .
papee is just as malignant since O
Kinley made his Southern tour .as it
was before. Mr. McKinley played, O
the harmonlan, but The Press y'
danco to the music.
As for the preachers, my Cana
opinion is the majority of them h6*6 J
no more real religion than did Henry
Ward Boecher. Like thu editors, they
-oly on sensation to fill their pows aud
their pncket9. With a few excpjtions,
their Thanksgiving seormons had
noither love to God nor charity to man,
and they wont out of the text to give
the South a slam or a stab. I used to
have great respeot and reverence for
miniatOrs of th .gospe . I really bu
lieved they wore all ordained o L1od
for the sacred calling, but in w or
yours that reverence has wef oned
and it seems to me now that most of
thom are only ordained of men. The
pulpit, both North and South, has,
been degraded and has lost its' high
standard. Hardly a week passes but
some pireacher has committed some
crimo and created a sensation.
Uhugches are torn asunder and the
peoplo divided into bittor factions.
Sensational preaching is the order of
the tdny, and eoyry nov; and then a
scandial witi a Woman in the Case .00
curs. Undignified and bitter con
troverbies in tbue newspapers fod the
public mind and delight those who are
outido of the pale of the church. I
was called on yekterday for charity for
a puor, uifortunate family that lives a
few miles away, ard wasi informed that
th only alughtur, a girl of soveuteen,
who could help lit ageti couple at all,
kind marriled an old imtlibt preacher
, aixty an~d',ater a few weeks he
a ndoneud her anid left for parts un
kniX, wn. Th'1lo btory is a pathetiu
o an he ough t, to 1o caught and
sent to lidinria mnd lynchoed. This
lowering of tho standard of morality
and good old-fashioned Christian pas
toral preaching is especlakly noticeable
in the two gr.t6 leading denomnina
tions of the South. I am gratifiod to
say that tbe L'resbyterian and h1pisco. -
pal churches havu ut yut sihuuked the ;
public withl any amnisterial scandal,
though tWheir pruauhursI- trU as3 a (las1038
inferior in pulpit ulit quence to those oft
half a century ago. No minister of
the olden tIme would have carrid his
sectarianism so far as to sbok ' to ex
pungo from tho Prcshyterian hymn
book that beauiiful mynmia
" There Is a fountain illeid with blooc6
Di'awn from iminimuel's voin ;
A mud sainnrs plunged beneath that flood,
insu all their guilty stains."
This hymnim was compoLed by Wil
lilam Cowpor, thci yout, and is em
ibalmicd in, the bweutest inemories of
our' ch11kiu(ood. il " this preacheoIr
wishes to h:avo it expuiged becau
h says the tIi rd line smacks of bau thit
by Immersion. Oh, my counli y
now some of our Atlanta an
preachers are ventilating tAior
P cal opinions about the war an the
Phillippines in their pulpits
Isgust of overy hearo. who dif a
thom. They forget that the pu
not theirs, and their call wis to e Y
the gospel-not politica.
Nell, I supposo that somfy
soldier boys of the late war will
be on the pension rolls. -I see
seventy-two of an Ohio regiment have
already applied. Ohio beats the w9rld
on p(nslons, and has learned alth
tricks of the busIness. One anup
there was r'ccoatly detected.-in hain'
drawn three nensions for tag past ie~,21
years. During the war he -was tra.
(erred three times, and so he.~~
three dill'oront applications in diffet~
counties, and his sore leg went th dugli
all right, and he now tells thai mis ~
lawyer put, him up to it, and he ae,
the lawyer one pension and he pp6
two. The genoral opinioxin WKh
ingtoni is that at least one-half 1O7
pensIons granted are frauds. ]$
eion money circulates freely, an&b4
is a good thing, and when it getn o
circulating dIown hero among out boys
v. won't, omphilaini.
Wolf, we had a good old-fashione~
Christmas at our, house, 'and were
thankful that nio affiction or-calamity
had hefallon usd during the past A
We had six teon of the posteri6y a te
festive board, and they did eat turke
aind et cotmiras amnazing. Next Xaroi
comes our' goldoen wedding, and the
all the dIistanlt boys and their wilyg,
and childrien are to gather at thie
family umansion, and my wife and L
will he cailm andh serene. I read in ~
life insuiramnce pap~er that only. one.
married louiple in 1,000 lIve together
lif ty year's. And so the event ougbt to
bo celobrateod. BILL Aup.
-Norway is buying cannon in thl
country, aind it is said that she is prO~. ,j
paring for a fight with her associate inz
the kingdlom, Sweden. This is a'
trouble of old standing, Norway clalign
irg that Sweden preponderates tor
much in the partnrshiP-1 A war b~. '
twoon the two countt,.,s would be~'" " ,
of g reat fierceness, fuo' ) Swe nj.'
Nor"wegians repr'esnth ot
roums stock nt ur th W oat yio.
to forget .in thesejt1imos Wtha6"
fathers of all time nations of N
iturope, and our own too, on~~ - -
Scandinavia. It wasn' eu
ago, but it gives us all an~tua
CASTo~1
For Infants and Children,
The Kind You Have Aiways Bought
Bears the,9,r..m mui
Signatur~oot
-It is announced fromn Longoa~
the Prince of Wales wiltlii
United States next summeri
health of the.Queen permits.
Othicr. hrk bocai di'alspointed In L~i
monits, Lhere aire good ani, badfiio'u1
to the Alliwat,,' intmme,at. lj't i6O l
your Rhuaism or Neuragia or oth
ment, It will do it sure. Sold ovyt l~,