The weekly Union times. [volume] (Union C.H., South Carolina) 1871-1894, 1893-12-08

House concurred in the came without
amendment, as the time was too short
to even discuss II. Tho Act thus bur
| riedly prepared became n law. IS o compro-
mise between the Prohibitionisis and the
| temperance people, who were skept cal rs to
the practicability Of a prohibition law. This
hurry in Its preparation and enactment len
/, :hs Sow with many crudiiies and omissions
which will point out somewhat in detail
| later on
| Considering the change made in the pur-
poso Of the Act, and the lack Of time to de-
| bate aud digest its various provisions, IL is |
wonderful that II has thus far stood the test |
OF the tempest Of litigation which IL has |
occasioncd. IL has been In the United |
States court, In our Supreme Court, and |
before nearly every Circuit Judge on the |
Bench, but without any serious inroads thus
far having been made on its Constitutionality. |
Perhaps no measure passed by any Legisla- |
| ture of any State within the memory Of man |
has excited such widespread comment and
elected such deep interest. This is mainly |
owing to the fact that it Is an entirely new
| idea, from az American standpoint, and
deals with the question Of controlling the
| liquor traffic IN new way.
| In the State the dispensary law has been
nni still is the one absorbing, never ending
topic Of discussion, and it has produced some
crmical alignmenis and alliances in the
efforts to obstruct and defeat it. Newspa-
pers which have always fought prohibition,
and those known MS the organs Of the whis.
key ring, have suddunly become strong
advocates Of prohibition. Prohibitionis's
who are so radical in their views that the
unchariiabc call them "crauks' have been
fomn.! siiouider TO shoulder with baikeepers
and wbiskcy dealers in opposing 1t; md
while many cmiucnt divincs have lent it
their aid aud endorsement, others are bitter
in its dcnuncation. The more moderate
| l.., Il al; hI,I will rI,n
whiskcy men arc more bitter in their oppp-
sition to it than they have ever been toward
prohibition.
The law went into effect July lst, and on
the night Of the 3Oth Of Juno every bar in
the State c'Oscd its doors The work of
. preparation, organization and arrangements
! for the C c,nirni nf 40 mnm"n.L 4: h::::::: 500
; | had been going on for several months. The
| illness Of Compiro 'lcr- General Ellerbe and
=, the heavy burden Cr litigation which the
=" Attorney General had to bear (my colleague
!, on the State Board If Con,rol) together with
\, tho long continued illness Of the State Com
J., missioner, Mr. ID. II. TraXlcr, dcvolved
!" most of this ork on my shoulders and this,
~ together with the organization and direction
u of the Stp,c Consnbulary provi led to en-
- force the law, hos more than doubled the
labors of the Executive oti,cs.
All Of The legal whiskcy traffic has been
r. turned into Que enamel, flowing to Colum-
ls bin, the ccnirn! distributing depot. Some of
at the rnilr, nds nrc yielding II measure Of ODE
in dicncc to the law, but most Of them openly
~ defy il or lend their assistance to smuggling
cr liuuor iulo the State. The Richmond ani
nj Dnnvil;c system and The South Carolina Rail
,c way in particular are bending every energy
tc TO defeat thc law SO much for the present
Ic conditions.
he The Dispcnsnry has been more ihau sei
,d sustaining, and the net profits to the State
at for the first four months have been So l9s.'
in lG. The etos1 sales to consumers have been
of SiGG,oi3.5i; total expense OF State Dispen'
cs | snry, So. 5iG.36; of County DHpCnsarics
$l9,S9O.OO. The three principal items OF
he expense, ns will hc scen, arc frcights, glass
nj | battles aud the Consabulnry
of During the month of July twcnty-nine
nc dispense ries were running; i'll August thirty
lie | nine; in September GOriy->cven; i'll October
. fny.onc. One Inns been discontinued, leav
ch ing fifty now in operation. The number oi
IT, clerks TO Dispensers and assistants Is twenty
four. The snlnrics Of these local officers
have been fixed by tho State Board, ant
. | range from 81 900 to $500 per amman
~ Where the magai,'rlc Of the bu-iness re
uurcs il the DisrenScr ~ Hisen ono or more
y assistants, but in no case is the sa'arY mors
q ny II business, it is not improper 10 make
il some deductions purely from II financial
RI stan droiu. Hitherto un,lrr the license sys'
-, tenn the several Counties have derived n
~ rcvcnvc of Sloo for c'ch license Aggrcgatirg
,I last year for the entire State SIl 100. Oi
-, this, four Counties t'har!rs'on. Beaufort
.n Brrkcl"y and Collctrn received SjI,2OO
-. lcavi"g $23 800 for the other thirty one
cr Counties. The State received nothing. In
~ the cities and town, the licenses varied, hut
he the aggregate of all towns in ia" State for
,s last year vas Sl3l,312. II is imp sSihc to
,t do more as yet than give mn approximation
-, | rs 10 what the rcvcnu" ~" safe, t1U"iics
I | AMI towns vii; derive f,om lhc change in
hv the IN thud OF controlling the liqnor traffic.
- IL is nf' iu say, however that II the towns
,r cease their unreasonable and scnsclcss oprU-
:, i ion. nnl ihrrc -fnuiths Of tho liquor,
yn which under any conditions will he cou-
!y sumcd in the State, shall pass through the
81 | DiSpcnSary the rcvennc Of the towns will
us not hr decreased fr' m what it was trmrnrnu,l
yl that hs lNnr''SG 'SGtaiin aii,' n Revenue equal ar
rv least TO both of these.
IL, Hut notwithstanding this, revenue il no,
is To hc dispiScd, the law Il g not rest on n
9, revenue basis, was not cnac'cl for that pur-
IN pose, an crnnrt hc defended on that ground
ne | rests wholly Oh its claim To being the
\ hest method at controlling the evils which
.h are inherent and !:;= I'nrah .ium the IN
la temperate u.c OF liquors and IHuSl stand or
of fall on It's merits ~ compared with other
10 methods of controlling the evil When the
T. law first went into effect. outside OF tho city
, of Charleston there was almost II total ccss,-
H. ton of The Illicit sale but aS time wore on
s the men who have always dealt in liquors
@ and grown rich thereby became more aud
- more cmbolicncd 10 d'sobcy the law manly
D. b the encouragement given them hy the
IF leading daily newspapers. which promised
"A thcE! immunity from punishment 10y iurics,
,r ani prcScntC l tho spectacle of the teachers
II of the rcop'c lnculcating lsohedicrcc TO