The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1894-06-12
TILLMAN AND TEMPERANCE.
THE DlsPENSARY SYSTEM EN-
planned.


Island, New York, and two notable
figures were upon the platform to.
gether. General Neal Dow, of Maine
the father OF prohibition, was greeted
with great enthusiasm by ten thous.
and admirers. He occupied an arm
chair at the right of the presiding
officer during the morning, afternoon
anu evening sessions, and showed by
his quick appreciation Of the points OF
the speakers that his mind is undim-
med by the ninety years that have
passed.
a formal address was read to Gen.
| Dow, signed by the heads of the pro-
hibition and temperance organizations
in this country and Canada. He was
given the { hatauqua salute when he
rose to reply. During the first two or
three sentences his voice tremblcd
with emotion, then it grew stcadier
and was clear and emphatic when he
dwelt on what had been accomplished
since he took up the temperance work.
| He said. in substance:
81 don't feel that have accomplish
ed anything that entitled me to the
honor which is done me today. No
words can express the gratitude feel
| for what has been said and done here
| But perhaps 1t wcro best that should
tell OF some of the work that has been
done and the Importance of the work
| yet to be done. There is no question
before the people Of this country or of
any country so great as tho liquor
| question; yet strange as it may seem,
there are many prominent me-, many
men OF enlightenment, education and
understanding who know nothing about
the work OF prohibition. | was once
haLdcd slip from Il newspaper which
announced that Goldwin Smith had
said that prohibition was failure in
Maine. My reply to that was that
hoped Goldwin Smith did not make
such statement, for tho reason that
1t is not true.
$50 far from being Il failure in
Maine, prohibition has been very
great success. AT one time. we had q
great many brewcricS and diStillerieS
N Maine. There is not one now, and
there has not been one in many years.
In Portland alone, there were seven
distilleries. There is mono now. AT
one time cargoes of jamaica rum were
imported into the State. There is
mono now. 1t is true that liquor. in
small quantities, is smuggled over the
boundaries. But liquor is not openly
sold, and there is not onc-hundredth
part as much consumed in tho State as
before the law was passed. A remedy
ioi SotlSutiipGloll IIl'tI Will cure ninety
nine cases in a hundred cannot be call
ed II failure. (Applausc) An entire
generation has grown up among three
quarters OF our people and has not seen
grOg shop or drunken man"
Governor Tillman, of South Carolina,
presented his State agency plan for
the solution of tho liquor question to
an audience of 1000 prohibtionists at
the evenings session Of the lntcrnu-
tonai Temperance Congress. Thc
Governors hearers did not agree with
him as to the plan. but they listened
closely to the end AMI found some
points which they could applaud with
out doing violence to their consciences.
At other times they loudly expressed
their disapproval.
Before the arrival of Governor Till
man the electric lights went out and
the auditorium was in darkness a
score OF lanterns were brought in and
the guest from South Carolina was led
| forward in scmi-darkncss. He was in
troduced by the Rev. DR.. Fl. l.. Way
land. Of Philadelphia. Governor Till.
man began by saying that he wished
| th IRE was more light, SO that he could
I look the IJC3T5Io in The eye and have
them look him in the eve aud tell
whether he was telling the truth. Con-
! tinuing, he said:
81 have come long ways and left
my official duties in the interest of
| the truth and the right. I have heard
a greet deal ut the sessions [ have at
tended of sand ana hack bone. It
has been said that | possess those
qualities. [ will say that will show
here tonight that | am willing to adj
vance my convictions in my audience,
and | am going to controvcrt your dear
| nSt I
probably the only politician present.
| have been elected governor Of n
| State and | am candidate for tho
! United States Senate and expect to be
elected.
The Governor then went on to say
that he was not exactly a politician
in the ordinary acceptance of the term
i He said that he always spoke his con
| vlctions and that was not characteris-
! tic of politicians. He said he was a
farmer; that his gubernatorial position
| was his first Office. He announced that
| he proposed to have his say and if any
/ one in the audience wanted to throw
rocks at him, he would throw rocks
back. Then drawing himself to his
full height he said, in tones that madc
the raftcrs ring:
am here tonight to tell you that
! prohibition don't prohibit and never
will prohibit. We have got plan in
South Carolina that completely wipes
out saloons, and we have done more
than you have. Now, ! am temper
ancc man. (Applause.) mover drank
five gallons of whiskcy all told in my
life. (Laughtcr.) sometimes take a
social glass with my friends, but don't
like the stuff"
The Governor tnen produced bottle
of whiskcy with the South Carolina
| label on it. He waved it like q fire.
brand in the faces Of the total abstain
crs, and described the State dispcnsary
plan. He said that prior to the de
cision by the Supreme Court of the
state there were siXty-siX dispcnsarie.
in operation. and the State had paid
out $3I9,OO0 for liquor. $57 900 for bot
ties and $3I 900 for labels and other eX-
pcnscs. From the total outlay OF
$4,000 and with $DS, 900 worth ot
liquor on hand. $jG1 900 worth had
been sold and IL net profit of 800, 600 to
the State and Ssh 900 to the counties
had hccn realized. He said that tho
quality Of the whiskcy was chemically
pure. so that the people quit having Il
headache when they got drunk on it.
He said Il moment later that no one
got drunk on dispcnsary liquor: thcy
got drunk on blind tiger whiskcy.
which he said they hid in holes in the
ground or tOted in their bootlcgs. lie
stirred up the audience by declaring
that prohibition would never be estab,
| lisbn0 nv yntpa