Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1899-03-23
THE DISPEuSARY.
Gen. III. G. Butler Reviews Its
Workings lii this State.
THE PARENT OF CRIMES.
BlOodshed, Violence and Robbery the
Result OF Making South Carolina
q Retail Seller OF LiquOre

To the Editor of the Greenville
News South Carolina has received
some hard blows in her past history
but they have come from without
and the united front of her white
people has enabled her to success.
fully parry and often return them.
1t has remained for her own chill.
dren, w-ite native children, to in
tiict upon her the deadliest blow OF
her existence. When she was put
in the category of whiskey seller
for gain, the steel of humiliation and
degradation went to her heart and
her life blood has been flowing in
streams from the wound ever since.
The last and saddest episode vi tue
disgraceful tragedy was reached,
when q mother, an innocent woman,
was shot down in her own home in
the presence Of her husband and lit
tie children and sent to her long ac-
count, for what ? Had she commit
ted any crime for which she must be
destroyed like man dog2 Had
che violated any law? Had she
violated any wrong to justly this
ruthless invasion of the sanctity of
her house ? No, only the "suspi.
cion" of wrong. What has dis
gusted me 80 with tho so-called exc
cution of this dispensary law is the
cowardice and imprudence and par
tiality of it's execution. These gal
liant and conscientious executioners
generally select some victim unable
to defend himself or herself for the
manifestation of their prowess and
courage, and then proclaim through
the newspapers and from the house.
tops how they had searched this
house or that, this trunk or that,
generally a defenceless woman's, and
brag how they had found and con-
fiscated for tho good of tho State
and its revenues, contraband whiskey
and goods which the State never
gets the benefit of. They are usually
"samples," which are conveniently
appropriated by dispensary officials
and divided among their friends and
families. They have not dared to
offer to search the house of MAN,
who would meet threats at the
threshold with force enough to pro-
tect his castle and repel the insolent
invasion with ball and cartridge.
Not much! This is very sweeping
statement, and / intend it to be.
There may be, and doubtless are,
some exceptions who are entitled to
exemption from its scope, but tho
exceptions prove the rule.
1T will not do to say that the dis
pensary is the best solution of tho
liquor question. No problem, how
eyer involved or difficult, can ever
be properly solved in the blood of
the citizen. No law for public policy
can be sound which destroys the
privacy and sanctity of tho home and
authorizes the Selling and confsca-
ton of private property, and its arbi-
tration among a lot of legalized ban
dts. No administration can be tol-
Grated which shields these lcgalized
bandits in their schemes of plumber
and criminal invasion of private
rights.
1t will not do to bolster up this
imitation of law of a European
monarchy, the Gotonburg system of
Norway and Sweden, by saying it
has diminished drunkenness. In the
first place, / don't believe this is true,
but conceding this, there are some
things worse than drunkenness, bad
as that is. Among them are mur-
der, corruption in office, perjury and
false pretences. Each of all those
can be charged to the dispensary,
and what is worse, the crimes COM
mittod in its behalf, as rule, have
been condoned and the guilty allowed
to escape. The blood of it's victims
is upon the hands of those who have
insisted upon examining it down the
throats of unwilling people. Two of
the highest officials of the State have
boon openly charged with having
"lincd their pockets" with dispensary
money, and no satisfactory evidence
has been produced to aisprove it,
Scarcely week passes without tho
DISCLOSURE of some tagrant shortage
or corruption among the dispensary
officials, and 80 the carnival of crime
runs riot in the State.
The truth Of history is, that this
monster humbug was foisted on the
State under false pretences. 1t was
sop thrown out to the Prohi-
bition Cerberus--the sincere and ear