The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1896-05-05

vender should pay TO the State q gradu-
ated privilege tax according to the
amount In the package, and that the
, payment OF this tax should be shown by
q label which should be signed by the
State inspector, countersigned by the
deputy inspector, dated, numbered,
have the amount Of the tax written on
its face and should be securely fastened
owe h mouth OF the package. That
this tax should be something like two
cents for each half pint, four cents a
pint, eight cents u quart, sixteen cents
q half gallon and thirty-two cents u
gallon.
That for the privilege to sell the ven
der should also pay to the city q gradual.
ed tax for each package he proposes to
sell, according TO the amount In the
package, and that the payment of this
tax should be shown by a label also
! placed over the mouth of each package
and hat the label should show the
amount Of such tax, be signed by the
mayor, countersigned by the clerk,
dated and numbered.
That the revenue to the cities and
towns from such privilege tax should
be expended for police purposes by the
cities and towns in such manner as
they may decide.
That the income to the State from
such privilege tax should go first to
the payment Of expenses of the Grim
inal courts, jail fees, convict expenses,
and the expenses Of supporting and
protecting the poor in the county in
which the tax is raised Second, the
remainder should go into the State
treasury and the expenses Of the in
sane hospital should be paid out OF it..
Third, and the residue should go to
the support Of the free public schools
of the State.
No pool tables, billiard tables, no
game OF chance, no loafing, no opening
of packages or drinking on the prem
ises, no selling to minors or habitual
drunkards, should be permitted, and
no liquor to be sold except in the day
time and o on Sunday.
The vender should be given the right
to call on the city, town or State au-
thorities to protect him in his bust
ness.
HOW H PLAN WILL WORK.
Mr.. Mayfeld said he believed in
sobriety and good order, and while he
did not favor liquor drinking he be-
lieved that this plan afforded the best
restrictions that could be thrown
around the traffic. He commended that
this plan would throw the RESPONSE
bility as to whether liquor should be
sold or not directly upon the people Of
cities and towns, and if they permitted
it and granted the privilege they would
be bound in all law and morals to pro-
tect the man in his business to whom
they granted the privilege; that the
county receiving the privilege tax
would be bound to protect him in his
business and that the State having
granted him the privilege to sell would
| ha o1sD hound IN ,,,fonf ~, 4, 1T. l,,.;
ness.
MIR. Mayield declared that under
this plan each vendor would purchase
his liquors from whomsoever he pleas
ed, provided they we're of approved
brands and quality, become his own
leakage n b~reakage loser, his own
rent payer, his own insurance payer,
his W clerk hire payer, his own bot
tie buyer and bother and make his
own salary if he got any. In fact, the
vendor would bear all expenses and
the income to the cities, towns, coun
ties and State would be almost entire
ly net and the amount Of this income
would astOnish any n who would take
the pains to make the calculation. The
profit laid in dollars, he said, would
reach from the picnic grounds to the
public road many times over. He re-
GREETED that since the matter was up
that he did not have the number
of gallons that had. been sold by the
~dispensary since it opened SO he
could show what the income to the
counties, cities, towns and State would
have been based on this plan. He sait
that under the present plan the expen
ses of operating the dispensary were
necessarily enormous, and there was
no way to keep them down, and there
fore the profits from the ~dispensary
must necessarily be small as compared
with the profit under the other plan
If it were the purpose of the State tt
make liquor bear the burden of the evi
it brought upon the country as far a:
such a thing was possible, he favored
such a change as would make the
revenue sufficient for the purpose, anG
favored applying that revenue strictly
to police purposes and thereby relieve
the people from the expenses of sup
porting the jai(s, poor houses, insane
asylums and criminal prosecutions, anc
he favored applying the remainder
there might be to the education of the
young against the use of LIQUOR anC
prepare them for manhood and woman
hood.
Mr.. Mayfeld said he thought thi.
plan would overcome the most of the
objections he had aver heard agains,
the ~dispensary law and would bring tt
its support the religious element of the
country. AS far as revenue purposes
were concerned he declared that there
were no comparisons between this plar
and the n now in operation. Mr.
Mayfield said a great deal more, bu'
this is enough to give a fair idea of tn
plan he outlined.