The age-herald., 1900-05-30
POURS HOT SHOT
 INTO THE SYSTEM
An Address to the Advocates of
 DiSpenSary.
APPEAL BY REV. TARGET l
Prohibition Candidate For Governor Points Out Inconsistency fCause and Says Prohibitory Lawis
 Only Solution of Question

Rev. II. L. Hargett of this county. pro- l hibition candidate for governor of Ala
 bama, has issued an address to the dispen-
 sary advocates in which he appeals to them l to support the prohibition ticket as the on-
 ly means of controlling the liquor traffic. | He opposes the dispensary law, giving as
 his reasons for so doing, the alleged fact | that it legalizes and dignifies the sale of 1 whiskey and says that it will encourage | men to drink.
 l The appeal issued by MT. Hargett is as | follows:
 | You have before you this year a full prohibition ticket, and your interest in working against the whisky traffic will be manifested by the relation you bear l to this ticket. Many honest men and even ! ministers are in open fight for the dis pensary, but we feel that they are sadly
 mistaken, and will come to realize in the | future the awfulness of their present po- stion. We have objections to the dis pensary which we want to present for l your consideration. After profound study of both sides of the question we are 1 fully convinced that we have seen no po- l litical trouble in this state compared to what awaits us when the dispensary is | fastened on us.
 1 First. It is utterly preposterous for men l who desire prohibition to support the dis pensary. The very meaning of the word stands in bold contradiction. Senator Till l man said in his recent speech in Birm- | ingham that prohibitonists abused whis- key and the dispensary taught people how l to use 1t.
 Second-It is said that the dispensary is a step toward prohibition. Let us see. The prohibtionists in South Carolina carried
 the state in popular election, and then Senator Tillman and his leaders defeated the will of the people and fastened the dis pensary upon them. Instead of accom- plishing that end it defeats it. That sys- tenn has passed through two legislatures and constitutional convention in South Carolina, and prohibition is not so near a fact now when it was adopted Thus you see it Is an utter failure to do any | thing except to sell whskey. Besides the | men in Alabama who are talking of that step are now sending out literature to | inform the people that the dispensary is better than prohibition. Whiskey is pre- 1eraDle 10 no WnlSkey. DfunkarQS more desirable than sober men,
 Third-It Is said that the dispensary will l give us pure whiskey. How silly. Had as we'll talk of pure smallpox or pure yellow fever. or pure bubonic plague. Whiskey will damn the souls of men no matter how pure, or where sold.
 Fourth-Tt is argued that the revenue l from the dispensary will support the state and give us a perfect system of public schools. So would slavery, if the state could enter into it. So would lottery. So would any other scheme the devil might l invent. Whiskey money for education will curse its benefciaries. Blood money all wars curses.
 Fifth-The dispensary, it is said, will do away with treating. Not so. It will be transferred from the saloon to the home 1 If treating is the worst curse of the sa- | loon, then is forced on the home the curse | that will turn it into hell. In the saloon l the boys treat and are treated. In the 1 home both boys and girls will be headed | for ruin. The dispensary will make it pop | ular to keep whisky in the house. and treat | all the guests.
 Sixth-Another argument in favor of the l dispensary is that 1t will cut off the SUD-
 ply of whisky to individuals This. they | say will make dram drinkers of drunk l ards. Admit it. It will also make dram l drinkers of sober men. What is a dram 1 thinker? Simply a drunkard. If man drinks three drams day he is always under the influence of whisky A half cen-
 tury ago dram drinking was very popular and we have reaped in the present genera l tion a crop of drunkards that fill our | prisons and asylums.
 Seventh-Dispensary people don't want l prohibition because it breeds blind tigers l So does the dispensary, and the worst of | the two. Under prohibition a man gets it l in blind tiger or not at all. If you break 1 up the tiger" few times he will quit | Then drinkers are without whisky long | enough to get broke from it. But under
 the dispensary. if blind tigers are broken | up for time, the men who drink can fall back on the dispensarv. It will keep | drunkards increasing right along just like l the saloon does. But prohibition diminishes the number. and makes happy homes and better social, political and business condi- l tions.
 l Eighth-Some dispensarists say they are | not for prohibition because it is physically l impossible. It is not impossible anywhere l The only trouble is in the citizenship If | whole population consent to live in out law then whisky will be sold Prohibition | is not creation. If the legislature had | power to create good citizenship for
 every county and beat, they run dry" | then the trouble would be ended. Prohi- bition must have a starting point but it | it is a growth, and must be cultivated | constantly.
 | Nlntn-Inere are men Tn prohibition | counties and beats who want whisky, and
 | they are working night and day for the | dispensary. And the people who are howl
 | ing for prohibition through the dispensary
 are going to force whisky on those who
 | are now free from 1t. The whole thing is
 | farce and born of the devil.
 These are only a few of the things that
 | can be said. A sermon in favor of the
 dispensary is for selling whisky and damn
 | ing the souls of men. sermon for pro-
 | hibition is the very gospel of Christ for
 | he died to get men out of sin. H. l.. JARRETT.