The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1898-06-15
TILLMAN'S PLATFORM.
Will Run for Governor on a
County Liquor License Lo.
cal Option Platform.
Denounces the Dispensary as
Huge State Monopoly and Po-
l1tical Machine. and Urges
the Principle Of Self
Government.

Ex Congressman Geo d Tillman
has issued an address to the public in
which he indicates his purpose to be
candidate for governor Oh plat
form favoripg the sale of liquor under
county licenses, each county to have
the right to say by popular vote
whether it will license liquor selling
or have prohibition The proceeds
of licenses he proposes to devote en-
tireIy to general county purposes and
not to schools OF course, under the
constitution. the licenses would al
low the sale of liquor only in guam
titles not less than oDe-half pint. not
70 be drunk on the premises.
He opposes giving the income from
licenses to the public schools be-
cause. he says
..The public school tax Is too large
already for the comfort of white tax
payers, especially land owners. 1t is
notorious that the tax on personal
property in this State as regards rela.
tive market value is not as high as
that on real estate, presumably out of
Difference to the wishes of the nu-
merous non-landowning white voters.
Il is equally notorious that cash.
stocks, bonds, notes of hand. Income,
etc, of the rich habitually and sue
cessfully for the most part evade
taxes while land has the brunt to
bear Besides, the poor laboring
white man who has no property at
all, must now either always pay his
pon tax for public schools or lose his
right to vote.
"Whateyer oahers may think. |
take credit to myself for having voted
in the constitutional convention
against the 5 mill tax for public
schools. While favoring the reten
ton of The 2 Mill tax could not see
either the wisdom or justice of first
calling q convention to disfranchise
the negro, then levying ! 8 mill tax
on the white mans property to help
educate the negro.
.tNot only should public schools
get no share of the net income from
whiskey. but there are even stronger
reasons why municipal corporations
should not have any of it The
framers of the constitution must have
thought SO too or they would not
have prohibited the Legislature from
ever .delegating the power to issue
license to any municipal corpora
ton y
Mr. Tillman adds (:
.sln contending that no municipal
corporation should enjoy any part of
the profits on whiskey. whether sold
by a diepensary State officer or by q
private license of q county, may
give offence to the towns; but as |
seek the good of the whole State.
not of locality, class or interest, |
shall speak the truth as !. see it. l
affirm tnat no municipal corporation
onghtto object to it's own local voters
andthe rural voters Of its couaty act
in as single electorate. ifst grant
ing license to sell whiskey in the
towns aad then putting all the license
money into the county treasury for
county purposes, because the town
can collect either fines enough or
exact labor enough on its public
works to adequately punish every
petty drunken offence against it's or
diusncee. especially as tine county
treasury at last has to bear the whole
burden of Furnishing ell aggravated
offences as well as supporting all
paupers aud pauper lunatics, made so
in whole or in part by too much whis-
key drinking.
ssTbere may be some color Of JUS
tiEcation for town that is not
county seat to license the sale of
liquor aud then appropriate the prof.
its, but there is not shadow Of right
for court house town to claim such
a privilege. because every county
town belongs to the people of the
whole county. and was established
for their benefit. and if majority of
the voters, urban and rural, acting as
one Joint electorate. decide to license
whiskey, and put all license money
into the county treasury. they should
be permitted to do it Such q
course would simply be asserting
the God given right Of SELF govern
men,, by local option against the
States present huge monopoly of the
whiskey traffic. For many reasons
every county should have at least
one convenient place for the people
to buy good inspected whiskey
And what better place than its coun-
ty seat /? But no town. whether pli.
vate one, 80 to speak, Or county
seat ought in good conscience to