Lancaster enterprise. [volume] (Lancaster, S.C.) 1891-1905, 1900-08-25

| tTieu prOnlOlClOn. Let us see
the result of such argument,
Maine, Iowa and Kansas have
prohI bitloD under their consti
tntion. Now compare these
States with South Carolina be
the report OF the United States
Commissioner of Internal Reve-
nue. for the year ending June 80,
1899.
Msine-Nnmber of retail liquor
dealers 1925 Iowa-Number Of
retail liquor dealers 373O. Kan
sas-Number of retail liquor
dealers 1851.
South Carolina-Number of
retail liquor dealers 324.
POSITIVE PROOF THAT THE DIsPEN
sARY is BETTER THAN PRnHI
BtTIoN.
The 324 credited to Snuth Car.
olina includes every lIqour dis.
penser in the State. Thus it is
seen the prohibition State Of
Kansas with one and one half
million population has over ten
times as many Illegal liquor H.
censes as South Carolina. That
Iowa with a fraction over two
million population has sixteen
times as many and that the State
of Maine with about seven hun
dred thousand population, about
one-half the population Of South
Carolina, has five times as
many.
Bear with me while call your
attention to more unprejudiced
and incontrovertible evidence of
the fallacy OF prohibition. A
committee of fifty of the most
prominet citizens of the United
States including such men as
Seth Low, President Of the Or.
lumbian University, and Charles
V. Elliott, President of Yale
University, and other men Of
equal promlnenc, not identified
with politics, were appointed to
investigate the Operations Of
the liquor laws in several of the
various States. They report
having found one hundred and
eighty two places where liquor
was sold In the city of Portland,
Me, not including pocket ped.
dlers, houses of i'll fame, express
companies, clubs, and certain
oyster restaurants. That while
the investigation was in progress
several new bars were opened.
The Portland Express, in the is.
sue Of June 21st, 1894, contained
the following protest of certain
liquor dealers prohibition town,
of that city "Some liquor deal.
ers complain that their profits
are cut down by the competition
of shops allowed to exist in the
vicinity Of their own places of
business and that the regular
collection of protection money
may also be made of them.
These demands are in some in
stances said to be so excessive
that the dealers say they swal-
low up tht lions share of the
profits and sometimes actually
make them run more disreputa.
bic places than they otherwise
would in order to get in mouey
enough to be able to respond to
the perpetual squeezing"
In Augusta, Me-, the capital of
the State, sixty two places were
found in operation, or one to
every 1T inhabitants.
Ellsworth, with $4,000 inhabI.
tants contains fourteen bars and
four other places, apothecarry
shops where liquor is sold.
Throughout the entire State the
sickening array Of figures comes.
The same account states that one
dirty, filthy, he'll hole, where the
vilest liquor is sold, is maintain
ed to every two hundred inha bit
tants, or less. The committee
report.
"The conclusion must be that
it is impossible to state from the
statistics adduced just how lar
they reflect greater or less inebri
ETY.. The general impression is
that drunkenness is as prevalent
now as ever before the constitu
tional amendment went into
effect, if not more so.
"The toleration of an open de
fiance of the laws and the consti-
tuition indicate not merely
widespread lack of sympathy