The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1899-01-18

'ircly an endorsement of prohibit, Oh
Tor there Is excellent reason 70 con
cIudc that the prohibition candidate
pulled the full prohibition vote in the
ilrst primary, while in the second he
pollcd the vote Of the ,tagnuis,s Of
lie dispcnsary sy stem, from whatever
cau>c that autag0uism arose. and, in
addition, the strength Of all the sore
heads and di-gruntcd office seekers
and p'lltlclanS Of both factions. The
election IN Charleston is a striking
cvidcucc OF this. 1t will hardly be
disputed that, if the coplc Of Char
lesion want prohibition as their ."t,- :
would seem to show, it i, because they
cl sure that under that system there
wall be practically 40 restraint on the
sale Of whi,kcy.
Turning now to the practical con
Sidcration of the di-pcnsary, do not
think whIskcy should be sold ia any
county where Il majurity of the people
favor prohibition therefore rccom-
mend the submissi"n of the liquor
question to the qualified electors Of
cch county, that each county may
Vote rs it prefers. Any county, how
ever, that votes for prohibitluu should
be made to bear all cxrruses Of Gu
f"rci & the proh;bitory law; aud such
should not receive any Of the profits
from the dispcnsary Under the Con-
stitution, the profits accruing from
the sale of liquor go to the support Of
our cc schools. Now, the county IF
Marlboro, which never had disprn-
sAry, and which is now under the must
rigid form Of prohibition, with no pp>-
sibllity of legal liquor traffic within
It's borders. receives its proportiouuLc
share OF dispcnsary profits, while at
the same time the State is charged
with maintaining constablcs in that
county to enforcc the law and prevent
the salc Of liquor. submit that this
Is unfair To the other counties. The
same thing obtains in the county Of
York, where the ouly diSpcnsary, the
one 1T Tirzah, has been discontinued
leaving the county without any place
where liquor eau be legally bought
lou will call to MUD that these two
| counties are close to the North Caro-
llna boundary, and it is we'll known
that there is Il large iuAux Of whiskey
from the distillcrics across the liuc,
by wagons aud other conveyances.
OF course, these counties may have
liquor imported for personal use with
out restriction, but it can not be sold
legally. bulivvc that it is BIT; right
aud just for those counties which
have prohibition, or may hereafter
adopt it as the means of controlling
the liquor traffic, to be taxed to eu-
furcc such Law, nor should they re-
ccivc any part Of the Profits arising
from the sale Of liquor in the other
counties, to add to their school funds.
1t the county officers, magistrates aud
shcriffs, enforce the law, we'll aud
good - there will be no need for con
stables; but if they do not, the Gov
crnor should be given the authority,
upon petition setting forth such vio-
lation, co appoint constables, and to
require levy in such counties suffi-
cient for their maintenance.
Now let US consider matters con-
corning the administration of the law
other than those mentioned as dealing
with its violations. When the dis
pcnsary system was first insuguratcd,
the State board was composed of the
Governor, the Con- ptroller General,
aud the Attorney General, ex.officio,
aud in these was vested the power 10
appoint the State Commissioner and
the County Boards of Control, aud to
exercise general supervision over the
working Of the dispcnsary in the
whole State. After the retirement Of
Governor Tillmun, in the middle Of
Governor Evans term, the Lcgisla
turc changed this provision, and
created a new State Board Of Control,
consisting of FIVE members to be elect
ed by itself. The Governor was left
without official connection with the
dispensary, except the right to appoint
and control the constables. The sys-
tenn has now been in force three years,
and, in my opinion, it has failed to
accomplish tho purpose Of its advo-
Gates. The idea was to divorce the
dispensary system from politics and
to put it under strictly business
m .nagement. No such le suit has f..
lowed. 1t is notorious that the dis
pensary is as much or more in politics
than it ever was. AS Governor,
have had little or no authority in con-