The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1896-10-21
The DispenSary Law Before the q. 8.
Supreme Court.

COLUMBIA, Oct. lS.-The hearing of the
first dl~tIensary case that has vet reached
the Uul:ed States Supreme Court may
mean u'uch to the future nt the system.
Thsre Is secret and lurking hope that 1t
will mean great deal more than the sus-
tanning or the overruling Of the opinion
of Judge Slmonton, that parties may
bring liqu"r into the State from other
Stairs when the liquor is intended for
personal uss only.
BY tho ups aud downs of the law, and
the pecC liar intrlcacy OF the procedure oI
the Court, u real test case has never yet
been presented to the Federal Court OF
last resort, and there are now great
many who say that q serious mistake was
made at the tile III not appealing to the
Federal supreme Courts through writ
Of error,
at the time Of the adoption Of the dis
pensary system it was predicted that 1t
would te heavy load for the Reform or
any other faction to carry. 1t has 40
proven, and to the intrigue. of he dis
pensary more than to any other one factor,
does the Napoleon OF Reform-John Gary
Evans-owe his fiual overthrow and de-
feat in tae primary.
There are hundreds and hundreds of
R-formers all over the State who are
quietly and earnestly hoping that the Su.
preme Court WILL not only sustain Judge
,imontun in his opinion, but that IT will
20 considerably further. They hope that
the rulo OF anticipating an issue will be
broken, but fear that such IL too radical u
nope, and wouli be delighted with an In
timatiou that the fundamental principles
OF the law are ut fault. or that other fea-
lures of the Act are equally as repuKnant
"a 1.,t tNn n SfgGk4
ture that is the direct issue 10 be argued
ut the hearing some time during the next
few q, wv.
Ii the Federal Supreme Court gave such
al lutiulation before january, when the
General Assem- bly, meets, It would have
considerable to do with the Legislation
that won ID then be had. 1t would be The
back bune to the cont nti0n OF those who
want change of tne present status. lu-
ciuentaIly, IL might be mentioned thai II
II were hot Tor the existeuce OF the present
State BOARD of control, the clamor for
change would be decidedly more persis-
tent auC urgent than 1t no" ls.
Attorney Geueral Barber has bad his
argument III the dispensary cas-. finished
Tor some time aud IL ready and waiting
for the argument 10 be heard by the Su
prerne C'urt rhe argument he will pre-
J
uuvers f3rty odd pages VI printed brief.
Uuder tho rules vi the ourt the arRu-
u,ent of Mr.. Bryan will have to be prin'-
d aud filed in advance Of the hearing tor
aJ least Lnree days.
Que great trouble, it seems, in pushing
The litigation agslust the dispensary law
uHs been the lack OF funds. t one time
it WAS somewha an easy matter to raise
couple or Thousand dollars from the for
mer saloon men, but they have been 30
often taxed and have made so little head
LAY that they have about decided to stop
pay ing out their good money. What the
present arrangements are or what funds
are available tor the litigation IL, Of
course, not known.
Il will be Interesting to note that not
wIthstandi & the fact that the constables
are not just now expected to do much
work the pay roll yesterday showed fifty.
three men ON the Iorce. It IL not known
what thes. fifty ODD men manage to do,
as the SEIZURE buDk of the dispensary
does nos show many selzures. Que im'
purtant part Of the work Of the constables
ls Il, draw their per dlsn and mlleage.-
JNeWS aud Courier.