The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1897-06-02


Went Into Effect.
In consideration of the present as
saults upon South Cardinals dispen-
sary system, Senator Tillman was
asked a day or two ago by the New
York Sun to give a statement of the de-
velopment and justification of the law
from his point of view. He said:
"The prohibition sentiment, always
strong in South Carolina, had been
growing stronger, and it seemed a po-
litical necessity in 1892 that something
should be done to recognize it. Ac-
cordingly, in August of that year, In or
der to prevent a split In the new Dem
ocracy of the state, boxes were placed
at the primaries and voters were asked
to vote on the question of prohibition
or no prohibition. Strictly speaking,
1t was not an issue, but an abstract
proposition merely. Prohibition re-
ceived a little short of 40,000-no prohi-
bitlon received a little under 10000
(Which, you see, was a majority of
about 10000 for prohibltion)-and some
10000 voters did not vote at all. This
was a sufficient cue for the General
Assembly which met that fall, and a
stringent prohibition bill, containing
what seemed to the prohibition leaders
to be the best features of the Maine,
Iowa, and Kansas laws was put i'm
to be amended somewhat and to pass
the House easily. 1t did not reach the
senate until a week before adjourn
ment. l had pointed out as governor
the impossibilittes of enforcing pro-
hibition, and had spoken of the dispen-
sary system then and still in operation
in Athens, Ga, as a possible model for
us. The consequence was that Sena-
tor John Gary Evans of Aiken, later
governor, introduced a dispensary bill
proposed by myself, with the house
prohibition measure as a basis, which
was substituted for the house bill. 1t
was rushed through, the house had no
time to amend it, and naturally 1t pos
sessed many defects; but it has worked
better than its most sanguine sup
porters could have believed.
THE PLAN DESCRIBED.
The state buys and owns all liq-
uors until they are sold to the con-
sumner. All persons are forbidden to
traffic in any kind of distilled or malt
liquors, but the state is authorized to
establish dispensaries for their sale.
A state board of control supervises
the business. a chief dispenser pur-
chases the supplies of liquor and fills
the acquisitions of local dispensers in
the various counties. These county dis
pensaries remain open from a. m to
6 p. m. every day except Sundays and
legal holidays; liquor is sold in pack
ages of one-half a pint to five gallons,
and beer is sold in pint bottles. All
bottles are supposed to have the palm
etto tree blown in them and to bear a
label with the seal and the motto of
the state upon it. Liquor cannot be
sold to minors or habitual drunkards,
and the package must not be opened
upon the premises where it is bought
If a stranger desires to buy liquor or
beer, he must be identified by some re-
sponslble local person. He fills out an
application, giving his age and resi-
dence, and stating the amount which
he desires to purchase, without desig-
mating the use to which he intends to
put it. A person can purchase distilled
liquor only once day, but he can buy
in a given day. The Dispensary law
contains all the safeguards against the
Illicit sale of liquor which the Prohi-
bitionists have been able to hit upon
in forty years, and we have learned
many others from experience. Those
who want liquor or who need 1t, car
get it, as free American citizens
There is no pretence at performing inn
possibilities"
Just how did you find the law tc
work."
HOW IT WORKS.
"Well, it went into effect July 1, 1898
The night before, every bar in the state
had closed it's doors. OF course, We
had been planning for months to man,
age SO important a business, but nc
one had any idea of it's magnitude. AL
of the legal whiskey traffic of the stat,
was turned to the capital as a sourc,
of supply. In Columbia a big hall, 16
by 35 feet and three stories high, wai
made the location for the state dis
pensary. Fifty or sixty employees
working ten hours a day, were KEEP
busy bottling liquor which the stat'
chemist had examined and approved
OF course, great quantities of liquol
had been put in stock beforehand, anc
naturally many trains brought into tn,
state, after the law was enforced, mucl
contraband liquor. But, crude as tn
law was, and hard as was the opposi
tion of the liquor dealers and thei
| friends on the one hand and of th'
crank Prohibitionists on the other,
was admitted to be an almost instan
| success. The state dispensary wa
| soon found to be more than self-sus
tanning. In July twenty-nine dispen
saries were opened and running; II
August thirty-eight; in September
| forty-seven; in October, ffty-one. Tn
| salaries of local officers ranged from
| $500 to $1,000 a year. The cheapes
| grade Of whiskey was sold at SO
| gallon. In seventeen of our chic
towns 576 arrests for drunkenness
were reported in July and August, ..
and only 2SS in July and August. 3;
| In September, '92, these same town
| reported 230 arrests for drunkenness;
and in September, '93, only 126."
"Other results which might perhap
be called social must have been notice
able?"
OTHER RESULTS.
Eyes, sir" Mr.. Tillman replied. "1
pure article was guaranteed, and tn
consumer got full measure of stand
ard strength. There was no consldera
ton of personal profit. and hence n
inducement to force sales. The bottl
was not opened on the premises an
hence treating was impossible, and tn
iliquor was sold only in the daytime
Moreover, the appetizing adjuncts {