The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1900-11-30
TRINITY CARRIES
BACK THE TROPHY
Continued from First Page.)

gives rise to. Whiskey always has a po-
tent effect on politics, and a greater num-
Der of men sell liquor now than ever be-
| fore in South Carolina. In Charleston
alone the number cannot be estimated
Every Dutchman in the city and every
corner grocer violates the law, as well as
leading members of the boards Of county
control. If the members themselves, of
the county boards, sell liquor illegally
why do we not expect the dispensaries to
sell to the blind tigers? 1t is we'll known
that these blind tigers get their supplies
direct from dispensaries. The constables
moreover depend upon the system for
their Jobs. We have only to look at the
last campaign in South Carolina to see
the debauching effect of the dispensary
upon politics. The blind tigers and dis
pensaries Joined forces to give Nc
Sweeny his enormous majority in Charles
ton, and the same in Columbia.
Wherever LIQUOR is sold by the State
there is a whiskey ring in control of po-
litics. Each dispensary has its clientele
of blind tigers that it supplies Each of
| the local whiskey rings is operated by
the State government, which consists of
| tors. three IN number. If the liquor
traffic in private hands is a corrupting
influence, how much more so is it when
in the hands of four men. In every cam
paign constable is sent out by the ring
to distribute LIQUOR and solicit votes. 1t
is said that in the last election in South
Carolina more LIQUOR was consumed than
in North Carolina in the days of Tippe-
90 nd Txr1n fnn Nio ri
ing short in their accounts after election
were not prosecuted.
Mr.. FLOURNOY'S SPEECH.
The first speaker for the negative was
S. G.. Flournoy, the gist of whose argu
ment was somewhat as follows:
The three best principles involved in
the dispensary system are the sale of pure
liquor by the State alone, the payment
of regular. stipulated salaries to the
agents, and the dispensing of pure liquor
in sealed packages only. Some of the
rincipal features of the system are
that no sales are permitted to drunkards
CT minors, no drinking on the premises
is allowed. and the amount sold is limited.
Every Drecaution is taken to secure the
successful operation of the law. The
of Control, and they appoint the county
boards.
1t is for the affirmative to prove that
the system has failed in it's general man
agement and is radically defective. and
it is for them to offer a system which has
been proved to be superior by actual test
in some State. If they cannot show that
prohibition or high license is a better
system, and still argue against the dis
pensary. they must be arguing against all
restriction of the liuuor traffic.
High license has been tested in many
States, New York, Minnesota, Massachu-
Getts for instance. Under this system it
has been conclusively shown wherever
tried that the law is constantly violated.
1t has failed utterly in this State. 1t is
false in theory It's only advantage is to
be found in the increased revenue it
brings. 1t fosters the open saloon in all
its glded attractiveness, the liquor deal
or with the largest purse, and the COM
petition for customers. The State profits
from il. and ret has no control over it,
The local option system allows every
community to decide for itself. This was
tie sTstem in South Carolina previous to
1892 and the people decided that it was
unwise and failure altogether.
Prohibition stands for absolute annihila-
ton The corner drug store is the saloon,
the doctor the bar tender, the medicine
the LIQUOR. the patient the drunkard. 1t
has been tried in sixteen States. has fail
ed in thirteen. and been void of enforce
ment II the other three. Statistics in
these States prove this to be the case.
We recommend the Dispensary System
because it has been tried and found sue
cessful; we favor it because the liquor
dealers oppose it. Moreover it takes the
traffic out of private hands 1t relegates
gambling to dives and dens. No opening
of packages is allowed hence the social
feature is eliminated. Moreover, the dis
pensers being paid regular salaries takes
away entirely the desire to secure GUS
toners
MR.. LAWMAKERS SPEECH.
The second speaker on the affirmative
was w. H. Wanamaker, who presented
the following argument;
Since the Dispensary System is one
that is entirely different from all other
liquor laws, mere opinions concerning
other laws will not hold good here In
his message to the Legislature, Governor
Tillman\ said: This law rests on the
idea that it is the proper thing for the
State to supply what the people want.
If the people want intoxicating liquors,
it is the duty of the State to supply that
want" When did we ecome Socialists;
when did we adopt paternalism in govern
ment? Enforcement of this system is i'm
possible without overstepping the police
forbid citizens to traffic in liquor it can
forid citizens to trafic-lquor, it can for
forbid them to engage in any other inter-
State commerce.
The leaders of the so-called Reform
Party in South Carolina saw that the
success of this system would be a great
factor in cementing their power in poll
tics. No law ever passed has so bloody
a record. The State is in the position
of shooting down citizens for doing a
business she herself declares to be legti-
mate. The blind tigers did thriving bus
mess, for the citizens preferred to pat
ronize them instead of the State dispen-
saries. The influence has been unwhole-
some in the extreme. Gambling dens and
dives of all kinds are run in connection
with the blind tigers, and they enjoy i'm