The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1896-02-19
DISPENSARY AND SCHOOLS.
The Politicians Smarter Than the E1uca.
tionalIsts.
Special to News and Courier.

about the dlspensary prontS gong 20
the State fund. To-day a member of
the Convention gave some inside
history about the fund, and how Mr..
Scruggs, of the ~dispensary, is the dis
ooverer Of the fund for general pur-
poses. Said the member Of the Con-
vention:
"The most serious objection to the
scheme Of giving the dispensary profits
to the school fund was that it was
necessary to have the benefit Of every
dollar that the ~dispensary would pay
into the State treasury this year in
order to keep down the State levy to a
point where widespread dissatisfac-
ton would not arise. Satisfied Of the
correctness of their position the gen.
tleman said that after it passed its
first reading the opposition determined
to kill it when it again came up:
IT called on Chief B~ook-keeper
Scruggs, at the dispensay," he CON
tinued, s'to obtain what information.I
could from him as to the status Of the
%dispensary, at the same time telling
him my intention to fight the provis-
ion for turning over the profits to the
schools when it again came up. llr.
Scruggs agreed with me that it would
be unWiaesto give the dispensary pro-
fits to any specific fund until two
years hence, or until we could get rid
of the increased expenses Of the Con-
vention without a higher tax levy.
CATER reading the clause which I
had handed him Mr.. Scruggs advised
against reopening the question in the
Convention, stating that my opponents,
with Senator Tillman in the lead, were
too powerful, and further advising me
to let the clause pass in its present
shape, as theresRas nothing in it retro
active, and that the general fund Of.
the State would get nearly $3.50, 900,
before the school fund would get a
cent. Relying upon his judgment as
a business man, [ took his advice and.
allowed the matter to pass in It's pres
ent shape without further objection
from me, and am now"ssatisfed that
mr. Scruggs was %eminently correct in
the premises"
Your correspondent asked Mr..
Scruggs ABOUT the matter to-day, but
he positively refused to discuss it.,
but promptly consented to elucidaGe.
the unearned profit feature of the4dis-
pensary- that seems to confuse go
many.
So. as to. get a suceinct and clear
statement Of the history Of this fund,
that itis intended to put in the gen
eral fund. 1 asked Mr.. S. W. Scruggs
to review the matter and he said:
""The contention is that the general
fund and not the school fund is en-
titled.to the sS2443, 1851 net profit,
which has accrued to December 3lst,
and not the school fund as provided
in the new Constitution. No part Of
this amount is an ~sunearned' profit, as
has been published, but, on the con-
trary, it is an earned profit. On
December 3lstthere was an 'unearned'
profit Of S25, 57l IS, which isal the
main profit existing outstanding.
which represented the States profit
(added at the time of shipment) on
goods unsold in hands Of county dis
pensers ON December 31st. This 'un-
earned profit will not go to the general
State fund, but will 60 to the school
fund when it shall have accrued, as il
will have accrued after the new Con-
stitution becomes operative.
"The new Constitution provides
that the net earnings Of the State dis
pensary shall go to the school fund
from January LIST. AS that clause of
the Constitution making this.speci6c
provision is not retroactive aud only
makes provision for a specific applica-,
ton Of the net earnings of the State
~dispensary from January LIST, then it
is reasonable to assume that all net
income to the State, from any source,
not set apart by statutory enactment
or constitutional ordination for a spe-
ciic fund goes to the general Tor IN
specifed) fund of the State. Well, a
net. profit to the State to the amount
of ,S243 ,8l6. 81 had accrued to the
State Ito December 31st, and, before
the new Constitution had become a
thing of life. On January the 1st 1
closed my profit and loss account and
passed this amount to. the credit Of
the State treasury-general fund-and
it stands to-day on the books as a
liability due the general fund. In
November a loan was made to the
treasury of $50, 900 from the surplus
fund of the ~dispensary. This amount
was charged to State treasury, general
fund, and the difference between the
two sides Of this particular ledger &C.
count is $193, 916.57 in favor of the
State. This balance is a net earned
pro6t--not an unearned profit, as has
been e%rroneously stated-and my con-
tentiou is that the school fund cannot
become the beneficiary of any part of
the cash surplus Of the State dispen-
sary hereafter to accumulate until this
liability of $193,8l6.57 has been paid
into the general fund Of the State,
which will be eighteen months or two
years. Of course, all net profit accru-
ing from the State dispensary from
January lst will be entered to the
credit Of the school fund from time to
time as the profits arise. and when
the general fund account, which stands
on the dispensary ledger as a liability,
shall have been l~iquidated, then it
will be in order to turn over to the
school fund all cash surplus as rapidly
as it accumulates. 90
'sIt must be remembered that the
net accrued profit of $243, 816. Sc to
December 3Ist does not represent that
amount of profit in cash, but only
cash in part. 1t represents that
amount in assets in excess of the total
liabilities Of the d~ispensary. Those
assets consist Of cash, merchandise,
supplies and other quick assets, aud
are as much of a net earned profit as
if every dollar was in cash. So you
will readily see that probably there
will be to the credit of the school fund
Of the State as provided by the new
Constitution two hundred thousand