The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1900-08-15
NIB. McSweeneY.
To the People Of South Carolina:

, MS south Carolina. That Iowa with fraction
over two million population has sixteen times
as many and that the state OF Maine Wiih
about seven hundred thousand population,
(about one-half the population of South caro-
lima has five times as many.
Bear with me while l call your attention to
more unprecedented and incontrovertibe evil
dence of the falacy Of prohibition. A COM
mittee of fifty Of the most prominent citizens
| of the United States including such men as
Seth Low, President of the Columbian UnlVr-
sity, and Charles W: Elliott, President OF Yale
University, and other men of equal promin-
ence not identified with politics, were ap-
| pointed TO investigate the operations OF the
| liquor laws in several of tn" various States;
| They report having found one hundred ana
| ,iehty-tWO places where liquor was sold In the
| .ity of Portland. Me-, not including pocket
| oeddlers, houses of ill-fame, express companies,
.lubS, and certain oyster restaurants. IhaI
| while the investigation was in progress several
| lew bars were opened. The Portland Express
| n the issue of June 2lst, 1884, contained the
olowing protest Of certain liquor dealers (pr"
dealers complain that their profits are cur
down by the competition OF shops allowed To
exist in the vicinity of their own places OF busl-
= ness and that the regular collection OF protec-
| ton money may also be made of them. These
demands are in some instances said to be SO en-
cessive that the dealers say they swallow up
the lions share of the profits and sometimes
| actually make them run more dlSrcpntablr
| places than they Othcrwi iSc would in order I"
get in money 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 III inhabitants.
Ellsworth, with 1900 inhabitants contains
fourteen bars and four other places (apothe-
cary shops) where liquor is sold. Throughout
J the entire State the sickening array OF figures
! comes. The same account states that one
dirty, filthy, helhole where the yileSt Liquor ,9
habitants or less. The committee reports:
"The conclusion must be that it is impossible
to state from the statistics adduced just how
far they reflect greater or less public incbriety
The general impression IS that drunkenness Is
as prevalent now a. ever before the conStitu-
tional amendment went into effect, if not
more so.
"The liberation of an open defiance Of the
laws and the constitution Indicate not merely
Il widespread lack of sympathy with prohlDl-
tory measures, but a careessncss of public
sentiment which of itself Is grave. Citizens
have become so accustomed to this defiance
that little attention is paid to the continuance
of violations of the liquor statute or TO the con-
tempt for law and order generally whlch Is an
inevitable conSeQ uencc.
A local Judge in speaking Of conditions un-
der prohibitory law not enforced has said :
"Thc value of the oath has been reduced fifty
per cent. in this State. Perjury (for which the
maximum penalty is imprisonment for life) Is
so common that 1t no longer attractsattention.
And it is not confined only to the liquor ele-
ment; the effect of IL is far reaching and grow
blush" blu; '0p'' ''''> VI 'f''' ''''
"Members of thessupreme judicial court have
said substantially the same thing and prosecu-
tions for perjury committed during the trial of
liquor cases are not frequent. Closely akin to
perjury is the hypocrisy engendered when peo-
pie are called upon to support law that they
ITO not believe in. The support of prohibition
at the polls and in party platforms when 1t Is
so ill-enforced can be explained only on the
r ground that men have become hypocrites y
Judge of the supreme court as quoted in public
D newspapers, referring to conditions in Cumber-
$ land county, Maine said: ut is question
4 whether the prohibitory law makes more hypo-
|; critics or more drunkards." Itwould have per.
f haps been more just to say: at is q question
whether more men become drunkards or hypo-
\ critics under the prohibitory law"
This, gentlemen, Is but like report made OF
$ every other prohibition State by this commit
4 tee.
THE KNOCKOUT ARGUMENT OF MAINE DEMO,
: Hear me again, you men, who believe that
! democracy has q stronger claim upon you than
i prohibition, and hear tho arraignment of pro-
/ hbition, Col. Hoyts pet theory, by the de
D mocracy of Maine On July ii, 1900, the
L Democratic party adopted the following as a
part of its platform
, "For nearly half century we have had
statutory law prohibiting the manufacture
Il ly half that time il has been embodied in the
d State constitution. Since it was first enacted
J. scores of amendments, each more stringent
n and the penalties more than those preceding
e il, have been passed.
= "For nearly twenty years the alleged enforce
d ment of the prohibitory law has been growing
o more and more lax until today in nearly
a every city in the State and many of the larger
! towns there arc regularly established bars and
G saloons where liquors are sold in open, fragrant
:; violation of the constitution and statutory
law. Nearly every hotel, many restaurants,
! hundreds of So-called drug stores and unnum-
: bered and secret saloons and bar-roomS in the
cities sell without restriction, save an OCCASION
. al seizure and fine for political purposes.
"For years the prohibitory law has been q
political football. ItShypocritical enforcement
has been used to control the liquor vote to in
\ crease the income of pcrjured officials and to
+ swell the corruption fund for campaign pur-
poses. Through its inStrumcntaity the party
y IN power has influenced Juries, corrupted
i officials sworn to enforce the law; a; dcbauchcd
v voters, deceived the advocates of temperance,
betrayed the cause it prOfessed to support,
: creating contempt and a disregard for all
r Il byword and reproach wherever it is known"
LIQUOR MEN IN MAINE, LIKE LIQUOR MEN
i MESQUITE CAROLINA, FAVOR PRO-
HlBITIoN.
\ Then you ask the question, if these prollibi-
: ton States are in such a deplorlblc condition
: why do they not change? The answers Is evi-
e dent The liquor men are in the saddle and
' they, like the liquor men of South Carolina,
/ are perfectly satisfied with prohibition. Think
g of the condition of Maine. The prohibitiOnistS
cannot change. The liquor men cannot be
discnthralled. Do you desire such a condition
South Carolina would not be in as deplorabie
condition as any OF these States. If so what is
4 1t? And If none, why change u settled law for
Il disastrous experiment?
q PRoHIBITIoNIsTs DO NOT ENFORCE LIQUOR
c LAW.
q Some otmy competitors in their frenzied de-
= sire for office have made the unwarrante
q charge that have not enforced the law. Try
p my record before a tribunal over which neither
nor my competitors have any control. The
reports of the Attorney-GeneralS office show
that for the year 1899, the only year reported to
I that office during which l was responsible for
the enforcement Ofthat law that 32 more were
, charged with the violation of the Dispensary
! law than for the year 1898. Ninety-one more
I than for 1887 two hundred and thirteen more
q than for lS6 The years 1893, 1894, are not con-
q Sidercd as the enforcement of the law was
practically stopped by the courts. My record
has been exceeded by only one year and during
that year the constables were allowed to seizea all
interstate liquor as we'll as to arrest any man
transporting contiftband interstate liquor
which privilege has since been denied by the
court. During the past six months of my
administration one hundred and sixty seven
cases have been sent to the circuit court for
: trial and one hundred and six men have been
convicted In the various courts of the State.
! Does this SAVIOR of Il non-enfOrcement Of the
law?
NoT AN INSTANCE on RECORD WHERE THE
PRolIIBITIoSlSrS HAVE ASSISTED IN
!, ENFORCING ANY LIQUOR LAW.
My competitors make reckless charges of the
non-enfocemcnt Of the law. Two of them
have taken an oath To support the law and the
other TWO have moral obligation on their
shoulders as citizens.
lfeithcr of them knows of any violations of