The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1900-05-30

| ne!S SHStoIUS0 W VIC SUuAtS, 0nN lAS
statute was un;mpede6 in it's progress
towards prohibition. Dispensers neg
lected to observe some of the most salu-
tary features Of the law aud themselves
became violaeors where they were e1-
pectcd 10 become guardians; minors
and drunkards have found it easy
enough to procure liquor with or with
ont the connivance Of the dispenser;
! chemically pure has become by word
and to mean the vilest of the vile; the
agents OF the State have defrsuded and
defalcated in large numbers, aud few
have been made to feel the penalties
for their misdenearors; the State board
of control has more than once become
an exhibition of exceeding offence 10
the nostrils Of the good people OF the
commonwealth, so that time and again
it was necessary to make changes and
bring about reformations; scandals al
most without number have tracked its
pathway; charges Of dishonesty have
been constant, and the public was
made familiar with rebates and the
sample room; in word, the entire
system has been permested with sus.
piciou, distrust and causes of offence
in strikibg contrast with the honorable
record of South Ca7olinas glorious
past.
Has the system proven 3 step to-
wards prohibition?' Not in the sense
that originated this phrase, but il an
other and truer sense the demand for
actual ADD honest prohibition Of the
liquor ,ratF. has been largely increased
by the failures and shortcomings Of the
dispensary system, which has been
weighed in the balances and found
santipg." That is the indictment We
bring agaiostit today, and to the Dem
ocratic voters We turn for verdict La
its stead we would offer them still fur
ther restriction of the liquor traffic, de-
s,royiDg the p1oit and beverage fea-
lures of the present system, aud limit
ing the sale of alcoholic liquors to strict
ly necessary purposes, such as medlcl,
nal, mechanical and sacramental uses.
This substitution would take away the
odium Of the States being engaged IN
business that's prostitu,ing the youth
Of the country, wasting the resources
of the poorer classes, bringing disgrace
and degradation upon families, impov
erishiDg the homes Of our citizens, and
withholding bread from the women and
children who are cursed with the
blight Of the drink demon. Prohibi-
ton offers an opportunity to work for
the elevation of the entire people, the
better instruction and training Of the
young, the creation Of Incentives to in.
dustry, and the neral advancement Of
the State TO keep pace with its material
prosperity.
The benefits OF prehibitory law
will not be fully realized in a year OF
even in FIVE years, for the longer such
law is IN existence with reasonable
chances of enforcement the greater will
| be the benefits derived from It's pres.
eDce as permanent policy of the
State. A generation that shall grow up
without any knowledge Of liquor sa-
Icons, whether operated BY individuals
or the State, 8ill be population ncted
for i;g sobrie;y, which Siil be the rule
and not the exception amoaa the young
men. Once firmly rooted and grounded
il the minds Of the people, a prohloa
tory measure will come to be regarded
as necessity. More than generation
has passed since this Law was enacted
in Maine, and for q long time there
was a vigorous fight against its contisu.
ance, but at this time both political
parties are pledged to its maintenance
as the settled policy of the State. The
cry Of repeal has been frequently raised
and not many years ago one Of the po-
| li,icsl parties made repeal a plank in
its platform, with the result that not
more than half dozen members were
elected TO the house of representatives
which has over one hundred in its
membership, and the fight for repeal
was an ignominious failure.
Gen. Neal Dow, who vas the apostle
of prohibition, man Of upright char
acter and irreproachable versacity, IN
| his testimony before Canadian com.
mission on the liquor tarfic, declared
that there was no State in the Uolon
where more liquor was consumed in
proportion to population than in Maine,
prior to the passage Of the prohibltoSy
law. 1t was then one Of the poorest
S;ates, anG under prohibition it has be-
come one CT the most prosperous,
largely the result Of savings by the peo.
pie from the disconeinuaucs Of the
liouo, traffic. He said it was quite
within the, mark to say that not one
tweatieth as much liquor is sold c:an-
des,inely IN that State as was sold oy
the saloens before this Law was passed.
Portland, its chief city, where Gen.
Dow lived and died, had seven dlssll-
| leries and two breweries, while many
cargoes of rum were brought every year
from the West Indies, and now liquor
is sold there on very small scale, the
quantity rot hundredth part Of what
it was in the olden time. His estimate
was that there is saving Of S24, 4,O00,-
0OO annually, which goes to increase the
prosperity of the masses, and he de-
c!ared that it is far within the truth to
say that $1,000, 900 would pay for all
liquor snuggled into Maine and sold il
violation Of the law. This is the tes-
tiuony Of = man who spent the best
years Of his life, even down to extreme
old age, in advocating cause that he
knew was beneficial in a moral, relig.
ious, industrial and financial sense. a
whole generation has grown up there
without being witnesses to the effects OF
liquor, and there are grown men aud wo-
men who have never seen a drunken
msn. Is not such state Of affairs
worth striving for, even though the ct: