The Newberry herald. [volume] (Newberry, S.C.) 1865-1884, 1881-06-01
GOV. PERRY ON THE RE-
TAILdNG OF SPIRETUOUS
LIQUORS.

lima have passed an act prohibit
ing the retailing of spirituous Ii
quors, except in Incorporated
towns. Now if this was a wise
and good law for the country,
why would it not be for cities,
towns and villages? There is ten
times more in;oxication and re-
failing in these Incorporated
towns than there is in the coun-
try. The temptation to drink and
i1temperance too is far greater.
The evil also is of much greater
and Of moro ruinous consequen
ces. There are hundreds and
thousands Of persons living in the
country who never drink except
when they come TO town and are
tempted there, by bar-rooms and
grog-shops and intercourse with
friends.
Every man goes home, in the
incorporated towns, to eat his
dinner, and why should he not,
also, to drink spirits when he
wishes TO Go so? He is not so
likely to get drunk at home as be
is at bar-room or grog-shop ;
and if he does, his family will
take care of him and not let him
expose himself AS q brute on the
slreets. Experience and history
prove that very few persons drink
to excess at home. All the drunk
enness We hea, Of in courts of
justice originate in these bar
rooms and grog-shops.
The judges of South Carolina
have repeatedly said on the bench
that -tenths of the crimes
tried in their courts originated in
intoxication! If so, and drunk
enness is caused by the tempta-
tions of the bar-room, why should
these haunts and instigators of
ruin, vice and misery be licensed
at all in an enlightened, civilized
and Christian community? Gam-
bling houses, and houses OF prosli
tuition are prohibited by la" un
der severe penalties and it may
be question, " neither they are any
more dem oraIizing than drinking
saloons and grog-shops.
1t is said that the retail license
is tie source of a great revenue to
the incorporated towns, and re
lieves the citizens Of heavy tax
alton! But let US consider how
much it costs the community TO
arrest, try and feed in our jails,
all the criminals caused by drunk.
enness. 1t will overrun the
amount received from these IL
censes independent Of the crime,
misery and pauperism caused by
them.
There is no denying the fact that
iutemperancc has become q mon
strous growing evil in the United
States, greater than in any other
country in the civilized world Mr..
Leydell said some years ago that
in two years spent in Europe he
never saw a drunken man, whilst
not a day passed over his head in
New York that be did not see
many persons intoxicated! The
great cause Of this difference is
that in Europe they have light
wines and beer as a beverage, and
in America our common beverage
is corn whisky, which will make a
man drunk before bis thirst is
quenched Judge Burke declared
to o South Carolina jury in the
trial of a case that corn a0hisky
gave a man a propensity to steal'
1t certainly does to fight and
quarrel and break the peace, to
commit murder, manslaughter and
other benious crimes!
We all know that drinking can
not be entirely suppressed, bnt
licensed temptation to drink
should be stopped. They have
stopped retailing in the towns Of
Laurens, Charlotte, Manning and
many others. In the latter town
it was proposed to run a dry and
wet ticket. The bar keepers
thought they would stack the
cards on the temperance ticket
and opened their saloons for some
days previous to all who woulc
come and drink free ofany charge
A great many old topers went anc
drank freely, and on the day Of
election all voted the dry ticket
They said they wished the temp
tation removed, temptation
which they could not resist. How