The Pickens sentinel. [volume] (Pickens, S.C.) 1871-1903, 1894-05-03
IT'S FREE LIQUOR NOW.
GOVERNOR TlLLMAN GIVES HISViEWS
ON THE DECISION.

He says Hois Paralyzed; His Hands arc
Tied-BAr.rooms Can 80 Put Up ut
Every Street Cornor and Cross Roads In
tho State,
COLUMBIA, S. G., April 24.-No
move was made in any direction yester-
day In the whiskey. .Dispensary law mud
die. 1t was hoped that something would
be done TO relieve the uncertainty. The
longer tho problem goes without solu.
tion the worse jumbled becomes the
ideas Of the public. Men now change
opinoion rs often as tho wind. Each
change brings no relief. TIE puzzle
grows more perplexing. Lawyers are
mot in it" at this juneture. They are
as badly ratified as the man who never
saw q law book. The Supreme Court
has made worse than ssGiteen puzzlo'
for this Slate and the disagreeable part
Is that nobody can work The puzzle.
The Sdpreme Court decision amounts
to ono OF Two things-prohibitiou pure
and simpls or free whiskey. The latter
means that there is no law against the
sale OF whlskey, that any man can start
III the business at any place and any
time, aud that there is no restraint on
debauchery and the full sway of the IL
quor king.
Many pepole DOW. believcthat the ma
| jority of the court saw what would be
the result Of this fearful state of affairs
and inserted in the decision the few lines
which have put everybody to guessing,
aud which has checked the whiskey ele.
ment this far. The court was far-sight-
ed enough to sec the effect Of these lines.
The employees still in the service of
the State Dspensary were engaged yes
terday in taking stock at that institu.
tion. The quarterly report must DO made
the last Of this month and the amount of
goods on hand must be given. A car
load Of whiskeys billed Just before tho
decision TO County DIspensaries aud
taken TO depots were returned TO the
state DispensarY yesterday. The ship.
ments were stopped when the decision
was rendered.
, Governor Tillman yesterday publicly
T expressed an opinion on the decision for
the first time since it was rendered. He
l was in particularly good humor when
3 the small regiment Of reporters struck
l him and began To ply him with variety
t Of questions.
The Governor was asked how long be.
fore the uncertainty about the decision
n would be removed and 1.-THE mystery as
!, y to its meaning solved. He said: II
! have already solved my part Of it. 1t Is
= now for the judges to let the people
. know what they have decided. I don't
know whether the decision mems prohi-
, bitioD or free liquor or what it me ans .
Who can tell what they mean? 1 don't
see what object they could have had in
| [AOVlnO in III Of oil
"Well, Governor, what about that ex-
tra session."
WHO has heard anything Of an ex-
ira session? All I've heard OF it is some
talk IN the newspapers and of course the
papers are always In tho wrong"
ut is claimed by some that the deci
sion leaves the law a prohibition law and
that the police regulation feature of the
law stands. How about that?"
Governor Tillman replied: "All l
have to say is that tho Legislature gave
me authority to enforce tue Dispensary
law. When the court declares the Dis
pensary law dead why of course my au-
thority to eatore 1t dies with it, 1 don't
eee what right have to attempt to
maintain the constabulary 10 enforce a
prohibition law II it is SUCH"
"Governor, whose business is it to
iind out what the court means?"
~ don't know. It's not mine." Then
laughngly the Governor said. "What
, Is that Byron said about Wordsworth?
On, Yes, Il wish he'd explain his explaua.
tiOn.'"
The Governor was asked what he in
} tended to do about having the stocks of
the various County Dlspensaries ship.
ped back here and stored; if the rents
and insurance would not amount to
more than the expense OF doing this. He
SAID he had no authority whatever to go
into the expense Of moving the stock and
things would go on just as they are.
Continuing, he said: you see I am
paralyzed. l can't dos thing. It seems
to mo that the court in so many words
I expressly declares that the Dlspensary
law ls not prohlbitlory law The Court
denies emphatically that the 'municipali.
ties have the right to issue lcepeses. Now
ifit ls not prohibtory law and the right
to issue licenses does not stand and there
is no other law applying TO the liquor
traffic 1t looks to me like free liquor. It
looks like anybody and everybody con
60 out anywhere in the country, at every
crossroads and everywhere else, and
start up barrooms and sell liquor. All
Acis applying to the liquor traffic incon-
sistent with the Dispensary Act have
been repealed and there are mono on the
statute books"
Governor Tl!lman then made the tol-
lowing important statement: HThe
whole situation us SEQ 1t now ls that I
can onlylmaintain the statue quo, shut
up shop close up business, do absolutely
nothing, and obey the law. The State
is forbidden to sell whskey. AS to who
, else can or may can't and won't pre-
} tend to say. 1t is confusion worse con
founded. ."--Reglster.
. Nopo Wanted.
JAoKsoNyILLE, Fla, April 23.-A
special to the Times Union from Way.
cross, Ga, says: Last night at Jamaica