The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1899-01-17
DECREASE IN DRINKING
THERE Is LESS tDRUNKENNESS
AND CRIMES RESULTING
THEREFRON.
FAYETTEVILLE GOES ON PRoSPER0UsLY
" he 0ispensary has Steadily 6fcwn in Pub
lie Favor, and Many Who at frs op-
posed It Violently areAroog
lie Wa,masf Advocates -
its Warmast Advocates. y

IT'S WaTm2St HOv0CateS,
To the Editor In your issue of the
18th inst, in your Under the Dome"
column, is published an interview with
Il prominent citizen of Fayetteville"
concerning the Cumberland county dis
renSary, the intent and purpose of which
evidently is to create Il. false impression
on the public mind with reference to the
operations and results Of that Institution.
When it is explained that the prominent
citizen aforesaid is the paid attorney of
the eX-saloon keepers of Cumberland
county. and that the interview in ques-.
ton is given out in the line Of professional
duty, candid readers will make due al
iowance i'll their estimate of its value as
contribution to the existing fund of in
formation on the subject. Such efforts to
prejudice the dispcnsary and bring it into
d.scredit will hardly succeed. Intelligent
and fair-minded men will insist on judg-
ing the merits of the dispenSary by the
record of its own achievements, and not
by what its partisans or opponents may
individually say about it. And what has
it accomplished?
First, during the past eighteen months
fthe period of its existence)-
1t has paid to Fayetteville So, 600
Pad to county of Cumbarland 5000
Net stock on hand, paid for. 80. 1000
1t has cash in bank ..... 1000
Total .....,.....,. ....... $1,000
During the eighteen months
prior to the dispensary the
town of Fayetteville re-
ceiycd in revenue from Ii
censcs from twelve sa-
looms .............. ..S1.S00
County license .......... 800 $4,000
Gain for dispensary over
twelve saloons ......... 5000
Deduct the State tax Of $500. which
went 10 the school fund or the county.
leaving net balance in favor of the dis
ncnsary for eighteen months Of $500.
These figures are of public record. and
ara correct lS4.S00.) M
Second. : true record of the actual
sales of liquor by the twelve saloons
which existed previous to the dispensary
will show that the sales of liquor by the
dsDensary have been less by ut least
one-third, if not one-half: and if 'alley
dram shops or ..blind tigers" are allow
ed to exist, as Prominent Citizen says
they do in Fayetteville, the officers Of the
law are to blame, and not the dispensary;
for anyone. except drunkards and minors
can buy the whiskey wanted from the
dispensary.
Third. Drunkenness and crimes re-
sulting therefrom have greatly decreased
since the existence Of the dispensary and
public order was never better. A large
majority of the magistrates OF the coun-
1y. and the mayor ana police Officials
Of Fayetteyilc. MI admit this fact. They
are bound To admit it. for the records of
the police courts and magistrates courts
show it. There has not been Il homicide
IN tho county for twelve months. nor has
tlere been a charge of a capital felony
having been committed since the dis
pcnsary went into effect
Fourth. More cotton has been market
cd in Fayetteville this season than for
many years: trade in all lines has been
better than for several years, considering
the low price of cotton and farm pro-
ducts; and the number of vacant stores
aud dwellings, is less than formerly. The
fax books Of the county show that some
five or six thousand dollars more were
received in public taxes the past twelve
months than Cor a corresponding period
of time before the dispensary, while the
public school fund of the county was new
or so flush as now.
These arc the unyarnished facts. and
the unprecedented reader may draw his
own conclusion as to which of the two
systems is preferable -the dispensary or
the licensed saloon.
Whatever may have been the actuating
motives of those responsible for the en-
actment of the dispensary law in this
county. it is fact that large number
of petitions went mp from the county
asking for the law, while committee
Of citizens went up to the Legislature
TO urge the passage of the bill. And it
may he added that about the only active
clement Of opposition to the dispensary
today is the former whskey interest. the
amimus and object of whose hostility may
he readily imagined. The dispenslry
has steadily grown in favor since the
day Of its beginning, many who at first
opposed it violently being now among
its warmest advocates. At the proper
tine COMMITTEES of our citizens who
have no personal interest TO further will
appear before the legislative committee
to show why the dispensary law should
not be repealed and to present petition
signed by hundreds Of our best and lead
ing white citizens against its repeal in
Guiding business men, merchants profess
sional men, farmers, mechanics, ard all
ether classes.
J. w. McNEILL, NJ. ID.
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