The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1881-05-26
Gov. Perry on the Retailing of spirituous
Liquors.
Greenrt1le En.erpris: and Mountaineer.

Greenrtle Enterprise dnd Mountat'leer.
The Legislature of South Carolina have
passed an act prohibiting the retailing Of
spirituous liquors. except in incorporated
towns. Now, if this was wise and good
law for the country, why would it not be
for cities, towns and villages, There is ten
times more intoxication and retailing in
these incorporated towns than there is in
the country. The temptation to drink, and
intemperance, too, is far greater. The evil
also is of much greater and of more ruin.
Gus consequences. There are hundreds ana
thousands of persons living in the country
to town and are tempted there, by bar
rooms and grog-shops an0 intercourse with
friends.
Every man goes home, in the incorporated
towns, to eat his dinner, and why should be
not, also, to drink spirits when he wishes to
do so? He is not SO likely to get drunk at
home as he is at bar-rocm or grog-shop;
and if he does, his family will take care Of
I him and not let him expose himself as
brute on the streets. Experience and his
tory prove that very few persons drink to
excess at home. All the drunkenness We
hear of in courts of justice originate in
these bar-rooms and grog-shops.
The judges of South Carolina have re-
| peatedly said on the bench that nine-tenths
of the crimes tried in their courts originated
in irtoxication If so, and drunkenness is
caused by the temptations of the bar-room.
why should these haunts and instigators OF
ruin, vice and misery be licensed at all in
| an enlightened, civilized aud Christian
community? Gambling houses, and hous-
es of prostitution are prohibited by law
| under severe penalties; and it may be a
! question whether they are any moro demor-
alizing than drinking saloons and grog-
! shops
1t is said that the retail license is the
| source of great revenue to the incorpora-
ted towns, and relieves the citizens Of heavy
taxation! But let us consider how much
| it costs the community to arrest, try and
| feed in our jails all the criminals caused by
drunkenness. It will overrun the amount
received from these licenses, Independent OF
the crime, misery and pauperism caused by
them.
There is no denying the fact that intem
perance has become monstrous, growing
evil in the United States-greater than in
| any other country in the civilized world
| MIR. Leydell said some years ago that in two
years spent in Europe he never saw a
| drunken man, whilst not day passed over
his head in New York that he did not see
many persons intoxicated! The great cause
| of this difference is that in Europe they
have light wines and beer as beverage. and
| in America our common beverage is corn
| whiskey, which will make man drunk
! before his thirst is quenched! Judge Burke
declared to South Carolina jury in the
trial of case that corn mhiskey gave a
man propensity to stea!.' It certainly
does to fight and quarrel and break the
peace, to commit murder, manslaughter
and other heinous crimes!
We all know that drinking cannot be
entirely suppressed. but licensed tempta-
tons to drink should be stopped. They
have stopped retailing in the towns of Lau'
| rens, Charlotte. Manning and many others