The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1897-01-20

applied to The supplementary school
fund If this is blood mnney. as the
c'anks contend, to what better uses
couid it be applied than to healing the
wounds iaf'c,ed upon the hearts of
the wives aud children Of Incorporate
driokers than BY giog TO such children
the only true safeguard against intem-
perance. education and culture?
ENFORCEMENT OF THE LAW.
The enforcement Of the Dispeusary
law has been the bane of the whiskey
dealer. the terror of the Illicit disti
ler, the pi,iful excuse for the oppos
tion of hypocrites, cranks and the
platform Of disgruntled politicians
catering TO local influences. good or
tad 1t is the duty under the law of
all the executive officers Of the State,
counties and towns to enforce this
law and such officers are compelled
to take an oath prescribed by your
honorable body to faithfully enforce
the law when they assume their of
fetal duties The Governor is au-
thorized to employ constables and
three State detectives whose special
duty it is enforce the law | have
employed on an average about fifty
constables during my term OF Office
and one State detective and they
have been jealous and faithful in their
efforts to suppress the Illicit traffic,
and I am satisfied and | ain sure the
people of the State are at the results
obtained During the past year fifty
five regular commissioned constables
including the two chief State consta-
bles have been constantly employed
The State is divided into two divi.
sions known as the "upper and the
lower The upper division in
charge of Chief Fant and the lower
in charge of Chief HoIley. The sal
aries and expenses including one
detective and the clerk in my Office
amounted to 47,726 OIL. Thlrty.one
constables are assigned to the upper
and twenty.four to the lower division
The upper division has been much
harder to handle by reason of the
proximity of North Carolina and the
mountain distilleries. The amount
of whiskey and brandy seized in the
upper division for the past year was
3.345 gallons, niney barrels Of beer,
8.076 gallons of cider and beer bot
ties, twelve vehicles and sixteen
head of mules and horses, and ten
illicit distilleries were destroyed. In
the lower division there were seized
and conAscated 5000 gallons of wkis-
key, wine and brandy, thirty,nine
barrels of beer, twenty two hundred
and fifty five gallons of beer and
cider in kegs, three vehlces'and four
head of mules and horses, one Illicit
distillery was destroyed The resist
ance to the law in the upper tier of
the counties adjoining the North
Carolina line and in the County of
Charleston has been most stubborn
In the remaining counties of the
State a healthy condition exists and
the citizens are almost unanious in
support Of the law, and l am glad to
report that the law being better en-
forced throughout the State at large
as is shown by the sales of the Dis
pensaries and the number of con.
victions Of illicit dealers in the State
and municipal courts
The violations reported to my Office
show large decrease and the daily
reports of the constables show bet
ter state of feeling throughout the
State at large In the counties of
Oconee. Greenvile and Chesterfield
difficulties have been had with traders
coming from North Carolina We
have been greatly embarrassed by
the decision Of the United States
Court, which allows the Importation
of whiskey for personal" use. The
matter is now before the United
States Supreme Court, and if our po
sition is sustained there will be little
trouble in putting an end to the il
licit traffic. One of the best evil
dences of the decrease in the illicit
traffic is the decrease in the number
of licenses issued by the United
States Internal Revenue Department
For the year ending June 30th,
1896, there were issued to parties
outside of Dispensarles al5 licenses
and one wholesale Ii i.ense included
Of these 100 were token out in the
city of Charleston. For the same
period ending June s0th, 1895, 72o
licenses were taken out. OF this
number Isl were taken out in the
city of Charleston, showing decrease
of 405 in the State and an increase of
80 in the city of Charleston For the
| year ending June 30th, 1897, there