The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1898-01-19
PlohibitiOnists Organizing.

ISL S4yo A0OuS IaAttdsAou
in Regard to Liquor
Traffic.
The meeting of the local executive
committee Of the general committee
Of the prohihitionists of the State was
not held yesterday, owing to the sick
ness Of State Chairman Childs. The
committee win hardly meet unit. next
week. The secretary says that 80
counties have been organized very
thoroughly The prohibi.ioaists pro-
pose 10 push their bill at this session,
! but if ii is voted down or sidetracked
they are organizing 80 that the fight
can be carried on more earnestly
than ever
Here is what a prohibitionist had
tossay shout the outlook yesterday:
The politicians Of the State are
jest nov il the condition Of that re-
preventative Of their class who, a few
years ago came into the house of
representatives directly from the
congressional saloon. much fnddled,
and standing in the aisle utterly lost
as TO What was the business before
the body, hiiccoughed out in broken
sytlabIes M-r-r-Sp-p-eag rr wis
ese-r are 81 e at . n = how ~
The session of the Legislature is
at baud and something muatshe done
NTH the everlasting tronbiesome
I liquor question. but What ? Aye,
that's the qaestion. Shaa ii be dis
pensary, high license. low license,
local option Of the psoh hilion folly E,
The mischief is that she United
States supreme court refuses TO settle
the question for the Legislature and
they must take this antapkerous bull
by the horns. The governor declines
! to commit himself nncondi ditionally to:
either horn the whiskey sellers and
drinkers want dispe ensary, license or
local option but the poor, befnddled
legislator is certain of one thing only,
and that Is that he does not know
where We are al anyhow.
The prohib bltionists are the only.
ones ia the field Who have a definite
idea OF what they want Theirs is .
very simple creed. .the legal prohi..
bisIon of the manufacture and sale of
Intoxicating .iquors excepting for me
dieinal; scientific and mechanical uses.
and the proper legislation and admin
istration 20 enforce the prohibition
Anybody with brain can under.
stand that proposition, aud any man
ia the commonwealth who ought to
cast q vote can do it underafandiDgly,
on that question.
II The politicians in the iegisla.
ture wonld go for it at cnce if they
were only sure it had a majority Of
the voters behind it, but not
being sure Of that, and be-.
ing dead sure that they would lose
the whiskey vote if they showed the
slightest leaning that way well,
what shall we do 2 II, like Gov
ernor ElIerbe, We declare for the dis
pensary FIRST, and ifthe supreme court
knocks the chief plank ont of that
.tank. then prohibition, will take
Dc, 50 what shall We do ? Why
don't those pestiferous prohibs
accept something reasonable. |" on
which We can all agree aud end This
uncertainty. say d;spensary or high
license with local option and the @
sP e thrown in, then we could take In
the whole thing and the voters at
The same time. The programme
would be like this /: The old salooner
would vote for che dispensary with
local option, that would kill off the
prohibitionists !; then combine with
the o P.'s and vote out the dispen
sasY and vote In license in the big
plsces and dfHide the costa and profits
between. then See Thenztbe hay
seeds' who don't want dispensaries
or saloons could have prohibition by
local option, you know, for we would
help them TO get it. See !?
This would give us diapensary or
high license in the cities with O P s.
and blind tigers galore, local option
n The country with pipe line connec-
ton with all the O. g and blind
tigers 10 the State. everything get
ting all they want. the State it's whis.
key revenue, the foreign whiskey
dealer the aaleof ali his whiekey and
protection for his customers-the
D P Is and blind tigers in the State
aud the blind tigers exemption from
license and interference by the police
In fact, it would be q veritsbie dis
pensary local option high 'icense-O.
P blind tiger jubilee. State.