The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1900-04-25

msnt and control Of the sale Of liquoE'
Once listen to the siren voice of the
advocates of license and destroy the
Dispensary, and as certain as the sun
shines today you will have the old bar
room system with ali its attendant
evils fastened around your necks as
tight as the old man Of the sea was
around that of Sinbad. Remember the
familiar fable Of the dog that had a bone
in his mouth, and while crossing a
stresm looked down and saw his image
reflected in the water which he mlstook
for another dog with bone and made
grab for it. and low and behold, be
lost his own bone.
Moral: Don't give up that which you
have BY attempting to get all. As a
writer by the name Of Finch stated IN
The Baptist Courier some time back,
you now have, under the Dispensary
law, the right to vote out the Dispense
ries-citing the case of York county.
While I do not believe that the illicit
tarific in liquor can be prevented in
counties that have Prohibition, yet the
bill introduced by MIR. Winkler in the
recent session of the Legislature in
which it was provided that upon the
petition Of one fourth of the citizens Of
county, the Governor should order an
election giving the people the right to
vote as to whether they should have, OF
retain, dispensa1ies in their counties
was agreed upon in caucus Of which
Senator Tillman, myself and others
were members. This provision was
substituted ss an amendment to the
'Archer Bill' and passed the House by
a large majority, but was killed in the
Senate. l urged the delegation from
my county to vote for this amendment,
believing that the people should have
this right, but was most assuredly op.
posed to the question Of license being
submitted.
I have always contended that the Dis
pensary was created, not for the pur-
pose Of making money, but to control
and regulate the sale of liquor and to
act as check upon ones appetite, fur
nishingit only to those who will have it,
and not encourage and induce men to
drink.
The following good points Of the Law
sustain this view: Selling only in the
day time; not selling to minors or
drunkards; or selling on election days or
on Sundays; not selling less than half
pint; not allowing liquors to be drunk
on the premises; and selling for cash.
The social features Of the old bar
room system is best described by the
following quotation from letter which
received short time back from a
prominent gentleman in the upper part
Of the State: "The writer has drank
whiskey excessively, but God forbid
that I ever take another drop as q
beverage. The whiskey habit Of mine
was contracted in old-fashioned bar
rooms. The beautiful attractions and
social features Of bsr-rooms carried me
there; the convenience Of getting mint
julips and cocktails carried me there;
the nice place to loaf at nights in the
billiard room carried me there. Now
there is nothing in Dispensary to at
tract OF entcice, and if the ordinary
person goes to a Dispensary and buys
whiskey, he commits cold-blooded act
on his part and no one is to blame but
himself. The Dispensary has no street
strikers to drum up trade like the old
bar-roon had" Prohibition will not
prohibit, and this is why those who are
in favor Of the license system are advo-
eating a coalition. Not because they
hate prohibition less, but hate the Dis
rensary more. One Of the strongest
arguments (While it does seem paradox
caD il favor Of the Dispensary being a
more potential factor in the advance
ment Of temperance than prohibition,
is the fact that not only the advocates
Of the license system, but the old bar
keepers and the keepers Of "blind
tigers" always vote for the Prohibition
candidate in preference to the candidate
that is in favor Of the Dispensary.
How do you account for this anomaly? :?
Because the liquor men know that Pro-
hibition means free liquor for short
while and ultimately a return to the
old bar. room system. The very in
fuence that is now advocating a coali-
ton few years back, before the Dis
pensary was heard Of, was bitterly op-
posed to prohibition. l say let US re-
tain the Dispensary law. Lop of such
excresences as hotel and beer privileges,
which have always contended are con-
trary to the letter and spirit Of the law.
Throw as many safeguards around the
sale of liquor as possible. Appoint
good men as dispensers, who will not
encourage men to drink: de not treat
them as you would saloon keepers, but
as officials, and require them them to
perform their duties properly and
punish those who do wrong. Enforce
the law in all parts of the State without
regard to the locality in which it is
violated. These good results can be
accomplished under the Dispensary
system, but it is utterly impossible to
do SO with Prohibition. And common
sense tells US 30.
A. Howard Patterson.
Barnwell, s. c., March s, 1900.