Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1893-01-04
BILL AND JIM.

and got together as they always dc
when in Edgefeld on the same day
Jim comes from the sodom portion
of our county, and Bill halls from
over ssbeyant" Choty, in the Skip
pers, Ga. section Of the Republic
Jim-"Why, Bill, old feller,
haven't seen you since Tillmar
was a-runnin'. How's things
a-gwine now9"
Bill-aWell, Jim, everything ii
lovely. Politically, we Reformers
are in the swim, and Reform j!
riding on the crest of the wave
like a duck sweeping down upon 6
June bug"
Jim-"You're talkin'. But, Bill
what do you think of the prohibi'
tion law just passed by our Legis'
lature? Do you think it will hole
water9"
Bill-"I think the law a gooc
one, yet the wisdom and goodness
of it must all be determined by
its administration and enforce
ment. Pope says:
For forms of government let fools
contest,
What's best administered is best"
J1m-"Did Pope say that?
didn't know he was a poet. L
Pope Hagood said that Gov. Till
man ought to tuin Dan Tompkini
off and make Pope his private
secretary. But Bill, what is there
SO good about this prohibition
business, I'd like to know. The
world has been trying to have pro
hiEition for along time, and Sc
far as l have seen it has been
failure every time. Liquor is
hard horse to curry. Liquor mel
are the hardest sort of men tt
down."
Blll-"You are right, my friend
The liquor evil is hard one te
manage, but to chain the lightning
was a still harder feat fifty years
ago, yet to-day electricity is in the
harness and runs throughout al
the land and under the sea, doing
the will of man. If this great
force of nature, Gods own direct
creation, can be made a friend anc
servant. why cannot man con!ro,
his own handiwork, alcoholic dis
tillations?" :.
Jim-"I don't doubt but that The
liquor business can be controlled
but what I asked you was: What
good is there to come out of the
liquor law just passed by the Leg
lature?"
ssBill-"Well, Jim, I'm coming tc
that, / only wanted to get your ad
I9u-sss..1...l IL factd !1s
and use of intoxicating liquors
Having got that admission, I will
go on:
The law recently passed recog.
nizes and Is based upon the fact
that the keystone to the arch in
the liquor traffic is the individual
profit to the person selling the
liquor. In the law now On the
statute books, which goes into
operation July 1st, the seller OF
dispenser, does not realize any.
thing from the sales-nos a single
solitary cent. This salary is paid
by the State. This profit to the
seller from the sale Of liquors, be-
ing the most important support Of
the liquor business, is knocked
from under by our new law. II
will also do away with bar-rooms
and their allurements and entice-
ments, thus is another leg knocked
out. The social habit, the con.
vivial instinct, which causes men
to seek bar-rooms when they go tc
towns, must under this prohibi.
ton law find exercise in another
form, thus is the third leg knocked
from under the liquor business
Another good to be accomplished
will be the lessening, indeed the
total destruction of the influences
and power exerted by the "rum
and politics" combination SO bane.
ful in all political and economic
questions-thus the fourth leg goes
with the Others"
Jim-"Hold on, Bill, how many
legs has that durned. thing got?
never heard Of varmint with
more than four legs, except
spider, or thousand legs, and you
=