The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1901-07-17
A Thriving Business.

A Thriving Business.
Many OF the readers of the Presbyterian are
hearty supporters OF the South Carolina Dis
pensary, this Is particularly true Of those ltv-
ing outside OF the State. They hear about the
Institution and think IL must be good thing.
1t may ipteresc all such TO know that 1t Is In
q most f1ourishing condition. AS liquor
selling affair it. is a great success. 1t is going
right along In Its drunkard making business.
II its design was to sell whiskey 1t must be
more than meeting the expectation OF It's
friends. Its business Is increasing. Inc
legislative committee have just examined II
for the last quarter and they seem greatly
pleased Not that has decreased az nIe@pse Iess ge
mand for whiskey; o, no; they are RIeasea ,s
because II is tlourishing. They. say, "Tnis ID
stitution is still In most thriving condltlon.
Every department is in thorough WORKING
order. Your committee with the closest
scrutiny can discern nothing put the
highest excellence" The thing which has so
bispensary sold over twenty -four thousand
dollars worth OF liquor more than Ter the
same quarter last year. The receipts Tor the
quarter were SH7,osoH. ana t5e man manaesfs ,s
present quarter. At any rate they are pre-
pared for 1t as the stock OF liquor on hands In
Columbia and In IN the seyeIa Rs3orsd s%nnes
amounts to S5lS, aelormeo
Presbyterian.
It Is also true that temperance advocates In
every town Of the State of South Carolina
heartily support the dispensary law. The
editor of the Press and Banner Is proud to be
one OF its heartiest supporters. He has been
temperance man, or total abstainer all OF
q life Of more than sixty years.
Ee has lived under all sorts OF liquor laws,
namely: License, Prohibition, and Dispen.
sary.
He has lived, toiled and slept on the public
square at Abbeville for forty years. He
yields to no man In zeal for temperance, and
he yields to no man in having opportunity
for greater observation IN the workings Oh
the different LIQUOR laws.
Our reasons, in part, for supporting that law
may be included In the following statements:
l. Under prohibition we had free liquor,
and drunkenness was obtrusively offensive.
On Saturdays and other public days, ladies
avoided the public square as much as possible.
Now. cases of drunkenness are rare.
2. When the Courts had interfered with
the dispensary and stopped It's working. the
town was threatened, by negroes and others,
with free liquor shops. To avert the calam-
ity, the town council issued no licenses, but
granted immunity from prosecution, on the
payment Of money. Liquor shops were
opened In these instances under the granted
immunity.
8. Before the enactment of the dispensary
there were In the State, 500 licensed barrooms.
using 800 storerooms, and giving, employ
ment, 1t is estimated, TO 5000 men. An
amount Of capital to pay rents, to hire clerks,
to buy liquor, TO pay for furniture, pictures,
mirrors, etc., far in excess OF the amount re-
quired by the dispensary was ecessary to run
the bars.
d. In the State the dispensary rents per.
haps hundred store rooms, and employs, in
cIuding the central Office, about five hundred
people.
s. In adopting the dispensary 4,aOo men
were turned from the destructive side OF the
material economy Of the State, to the pro-
ductive side.
6. The capital that was invested N bar.
rooms is now in better business. The invest
ment in the dispensary liquor is profits that
formerly went to the bar keepers.
7. Under the dispensary system we have
absolute prohibition from sunset until lsunrise
every night in the year, and every Sunday.
g. Under the barroom system, the liquor
shops were not closed until late hour at
night, and the back doors were not always. III
ever, shut on Sundays. The dispensary at
Abbeville, as far as we are Informed, has
never been entered on Sunday, since It's
establishment eight years ago.
9. Under the dispensary system, the aver
age arrests for drunkenness is about one.
eighth OF. the number OF arrests under the
license system.
10. The habit Of treating has been entirely
broken up. Treating laid the foundation for
drunkenness.
II. Under the dlspensary system, the
allurements and the temptations Of the bar,
and the screen, which the darkness offered,
has been done away with.
u. No man can buy liquor from the dis
pensary without the cash. This OF itself is a
restrictive measure.
IS. No man can pledge his wife's Jewelry,
his children's shoes, or his weeks wages at
the dispensary.
IA. No man Is allowed TO drink at the dis
pensary, and crowds are notpermitted TO con-
gregate thereto corrupt the youth or others
by drink or immoral speech.
Is. One thing about the change In the sys
tenn Of dealing with liquor lies in the fact
that man may feel safe in buying what he
pays for. 1t has never been charged that
"doctored" liquor has been sold by the dis
pensary. Sick people are not poisoned by 1t.
l6. The houses In Abbeville " hich once
drew the rougher element is now occupied
by as good stores as any, and that part of
town has been changed for the better.
II. Perhaps every man in ttis city would
testify to the improved condition under the
dispensary.
Is. AS a rule gentlemen will not drink, If
they have to 20 to the corner Of
a fence, to gulp down the hot stuff from the
neck Of bottle. This fact restrains maly
from drinking.
These are some Of the reasons which impel
some of the best and the truest men in the
State to support the dispensary. But. 1t is
not claimed that the dispensary has reached
the acme OF perfection. The law has been
fought by the liquor element with deter
mination which has never been equalled, and
some good and well meaning men, like the
editor OF Presbyterian, for instance, have op-
posed 1t with great force and with a con-
scientiousness that has never been doubted.
But the liquor men and the temperance men
have opposed 1t from different standpoints.
Believing that the editor of the Presbyter.
ian is as sincere in his convictions as we are,
and as both OF Us are working for the
same end, We would be glad II the editor OF
the Presbyterian would join other temper.
ance people in an effort to reduce the hours
which the dispensary may be open, and TO
assist in having such influence TO bear as will
increase the price OF liquor to the highest pos
sible figure.
If we could reduce the hours during which
liquor could be sold. and If the price could be