The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1899-02-01
Down With the Dispensary


stone, who received such Il large vote
for Governor. has made the following
statement:
Will you please allow me to explain
my position on the whiskey question? ?
What the reporter put me down as
saying does not do me justice. In fact,
what said was not intended for publ
cation at all. TO start with, let me
state that have no desire or authority
to speak for the Prohibitionists of the
State. Any views may express are
mine as an individual, and the Prohi-
bitionists are not responsible for them
in any shape, form or fashion. AT the
same time would not knowingly take
any position that might be calculated
to iniure the cause of the Prohibition
lists, for I am as stalnch Il believer in
prohibition, upon principle, as ever,
and will do as much for its sake as any
man in the State. My friends, or some
Of them, may differ with me as to the
means of accomplishing our ends, but
they will not question my motives.
What is the situation that confronts
u.s. We have the dispensary system.
Under the Constitution of 1895 we can
not 90 back to the old bar-room sys-
TEN. If we let matters remain i'll their
present shape what have we accom-
plishedo The dispensary system can
never lead to prohibition. lthas fought
us heretofore at every step. 1t has
done more to make the whiskey traffic
appear respectable than any system
that we have ever had. The longer
the system stands the more power will
it acquire and the more influence will
it exercise in political circles. The
tremendous power it already has can
only be known fully by those who have
come in contact with its practical work
ings in campaign. How eagerly are
the positions upon the board of control
sought after. Why9 Partly, at least,
because they realize the power OF the
dispensary in elections, and they want
it's influence exerted in their behalf.
If allowed to stand will its influence
along these lines be decreased! re-
peat the question: What have the Pro-
hibitionists to gain by allowing the
present system to stando Absolutely
nothing. If it stands they have gained
nothing, and their fight of last year
counts for nothing.
On the other hand, What would the
repeal of the dispcnsary .mean to us:
With it repealed, and with no other
law enacted, we would have prolibl-
ton in every county in the State. The
tacking on of local option feature
would mean that in those counties
where public sentiment is not suffl-
GENTLY strong to give us prohibition,
the license system or the county dis
pensaly system would be in force.
Under either of these systems we would
have all Of the good features OF the
present dispensary, for under the Con-
stitution they have remained. 1t pro-
hibition were forced upon said coun-
ties it could not be enforced, for it is
nonsense to talk about enforcing any
law which is not supported by public
sentiment. The enforcement OF
Il prohibition law in those counties
would do ollr cause harm, because we
would be held responsible for its en-
forcement. True, we might have
whiskey rings to fight in those palticu-
lar counties in the future, but what
would they be It's compared to the great
State whiskcy ring now in existence
believe that ut least three foulths of
the counties in the State would remain
under the operations of the prohibition
law. Would that not give Us three
forrths of Il victory, which is better
than no victory at all.' Again, those
counties would give us Il tremendous
leverage i'll our future fights. The
only sound objection that can be urged
against the view that present is that
the present Administration is hostile
to prohibition, and that, therefore, the
law might be killed by wcak-knccd
enforcement thereof. There is some
force in such an argument, bnt III my
Judgment that objection will be more
than offset by the benefits that will
accrue. Remember, we get rid of the
tremendous influence of the dispensaly
in politics. With the dispcns;lry out of
our way and with thrcc-fourths of the
counties in the State ut our back. sure
ly we will be in Il better position to
push on to complete victory. The plan
which | advocate, in nut shell, means
to make the most of our present oppor-
tunitics-to take thrcc-fourths of Il
loaf rather than no loaf at all; take and
occupy the position from which we can
make the best fight in the future. 1t
does not mean Il sacrifice of principle.
1t means that as practical men we are
to seize what is best for us when the
offers; it means that in our
it is better not to have wills
key legally. sold in thrccfourths of the
counties tlan to haveit sold in all. To
urge that by doing as advocate we
become allied with the whiskcy men is
I'LL bosh and sentiment. We do notlI-
in,r nf thn Kind On tLn nthnr hnnl If