The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1885-02-26

CauSeQ MIN tO Qelay, dHu lu0 uVi"y
defeated the Bill. Every Bill of a pro-
hibitory nature which was considered by
the house became law yet you will insist
that my action and private opinion killed
the Bill, upon this, let me state more
fully, we did not believe that the petition
signed by one thousand citizens (if that
be the number) from the rank and file
of our people did it give such an expires.
sion as would authorize your Represen-
tative to favor the Bill and more especi-
ally when it was known to "Mr. Clink.
scales.' for some weeks before the meet
ing Of the Legislature, printed petitions
had been struck by the scores, put into
the hands of the friends of the measure,
each township carefully canvassed, left
in the Stores of the leading merchants
of the county and offered at many, if not
all of the churches in the county and
such other steps taken that advertised
every man woman aud child in the coun-
ty and afforded to them an opportunity
to sign the same had they wished to have
done so and only one thousand (if that
be the number out of about thirty FIVE
thousand signed the petition Such an
expression of opinion would not warrant
a Representative man to favor the Bill.
If the present Local option law is a good
one then its existence is endangered by
the present move, for it has come to our
knowledge since the agitation of this
question that many of the citizens of
Anderson County who live out of incor-
porated towns, are of the opinion if this
law be changed so as to allow the citi.
zens to vote upon the question "wet or
dry" that the effects OF that vote would
carry the amended law into the town
ships as we'll as the cities and towns
That is if the wet ticket should carry,
the county commissioners should be re.
quired to grant license to citizens of the
townships under reasonable rates and
proper restrictions
Ii the Editor suppuses there is no force
in this he would perhapse stand amazed
at the number of citizens in the county
who are ready to sign and would sign q
petition as follows, We the citizens Of
Anderson County petition the Legisla-
ture of S. G. at its next session to so
amend the law known as the Local Op.
ton Law as to extend the right of the
electors of said County to vote upon the
subject of "wet and dry" and that if the
wet ticket carries the county commish-
toners shall issue license to the citizens
of the townships and the incorporated
towns and cities under such reasonable
regulations and conditions and license
fees as would be proper for dealers in
the country, towns and cities, and that
such license fees should be paid into the
hands of the county commissioners aud
the same be used to defray the public
expenses of the County. We happen to
live in the cohntry, and, Notwithstanding
the inequality of the Local option Law
we prefer it to the moon Sinners law.
Heretofore the people of the country
have not complained. Yet if they
should complain, as they now do and
put their complaint into form as above
stated you would stand amazed at the
number who desire less legal rights con-
fered upon them than their fellow citizens
who happen to live in Incorporated towns
and cities. Then if this question results
disastrous to the desires'of the petition
.ers, surely that injustice cannot be at.
tributable to ourselves
No man has higher appreciation of
temperance than l have If | could
make every man woman and child in the
world to day temperate would certainly
do so but I cannot, neither can the State
by legislation make her people tempe.
perate, moral. or religious. Every effort
to make the State and more especially q
county kind of religious and moral
training school is an effort in the wrong
direction and the people will sooner or
later find it out. What was the result of
the dry ticket in the city of Anderson
two or three years ago. What is the re-
suit in Iowa to day. will quote from
the Washington Post "The prohibitory
Iiouor law in Iowa is evidently a failure
The mayor of Davenport reports an in
crease in the number OF saloons" "Sim-
liar reports come from all the leading
cities in the State" "No license being
granted the revenue suffers as matter
of course and no attempt being made to
enforce the law, the number of drinking
places is correspondingly greater The
result can readily be foreseen. 1t is
leading to a political revolution in which
the Republican party-which is RESPONSE.
BILE for this unsatisfactory condition of
things-must go to the wall"
Can less be expected in South Carolina
where the white population is 80 nearly
equally divided on this subject. Barn
we'll County has prohibitory law, yet
she sent up a petition, largely signed,
petitioning the Legislature at the last
Session to repeal the law So did Oconee.
This very question was made the leading
political question in that county at the
last County and State election, and what
WAS the result. And what does Mr. Mur
raw mean when be says that there must
be ticket from the Senate down. Is
that not forestating his intentions to bolt
the party if he cant carry things his
way. Surely it does not take much sa-
pacity or forethought to see that this
proposition, if insisted upon, will become
one of the leading if not the very lead
ing political questions of the State-a
thing that by all means should be avoid
ed. I hope I am understood upon this
subject. But about the squirming. |
did not have in view the Local option
Law but it seems to us that the Editor
was not with the friends of prohibition.
when there were several thousand Of
them petitionipg the Legislature to pass
prohibitory law for the Stale but when
he saw that something was going to be
done the Editor put spurs to his pony