The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1901-03-01
WHY NOT A DIsPENsARY LAwP

intoxicating drinks, not only under
the control of but in the hands of the |
state. The law at first provoked a
great deal of trouble. Or rather at
few places in the state the whiskey |
men provoked a great deal OF trouble
by not obeying the law. Even that
seems to have Quoted down OF late
years, however, and now the law
seems to be operating satisfactorily |
and we'll. But that law had this OBJ
lection. 1t was general; it applied
to all the state; and though good
law, it was troublesome one and
hard to enforce where it was not
wanted. Hence the trouble at first.
II lacked the local home rule fea-
ture that the Alabama dispensary
law has.
The Alabama law allows the towns
of the state to do away with the sa-
looms and open instead one dispen-
sary for tie sale of whiskey, ale,
beer. etc. said di=pensary to be run
by a municipal officer elected or ap-
pointed for that purpose, under GER
tain restrictions, the net proceeds to
be turned into the city treasury. AT
these dispensaries the liquor is sold
in bottles, sealed, and 1t is contrary
to law to break the seal in the build
ing where it is sold. There can,
therefore, be no drinking there, or
lettering about the place. No
whiskey-at these dispensaries-is
sold to minors, or to intoxicated
men, or to habitual drunkards, and
none is sold on Sunday. You see at
once the great advantage, from
moral and temperance standpoint,
it has over the saloon.
The little town, of Marion, Ala,
Mr.. John Trotwood Moore tells US,
used to be great drinking town "a
great town for drunkenness. In the
last few years they have abolished
the saloon there and adopted the
dispensary, and the change for the
better is remarkable, Mr.. Moore
says. During a recent visit there,
he heard his father, who is Judge of
that Circuit, charge the grand jury +;
in which charge he extolled the
workings of the lspensary, saying
that it had done more to advance
the cause of temperance and elevate
the moral tone of the community
than any law put on the books dur
ing his forty years of official lite.
The dispensary is not only tenn
perance reformer, but is revenue
raiser. Mr.. Moore has promised tc
get us some accurate figures upo 4
this point. Approximately speak.
ing, the saloons of Marion were pay
ing to the town a revenue less than
one thousand dollars. The dispensary
last year paid a net profit of $1,000
The above is a brief and imper
feet statement of the many advan
tages the dispensary has over the sa
loon. Not that we think the dis
pensary the thing we want; but bet
ter simply than the curse we have
Now then, why not try and get 8
dispensary law passed by this legis
lature for Tennessee; or for towns o
certain size in Tennessee, who by 6
majority vote of its citizens will sa,
they want il? Our Senator and Rep
resentatives all voted for the Peele
bill, and would vote for any othe
temperance measure their con
stituents asked of them. The HOus
has shown itself overwhelmingly il
favor of temperance legislation. TIL
Senate was so close as to be doubt
full. Why not try them another fall
why not give them another chance
We could say to them, you clair
the right of the individual to buy a.
the whiskey he wants; give us tn
right, for the sake of peace and goo
morals and protection to the young
to regulate the traffic by confirm
the sale to one house, and tina
house under the immediate and d
rect control of the municipality.
We could say to Them, you clair
that it brings business and revenu
to town; give us the right to max
the best of that revenue, and instea
of squandering it in dives and gan
bling dens and fast living, to spen
1t on public schools or public stree
or public improvements.
Give us the right, we say, to d
these things, provided majority ,
the people Of our town say so.
Could they refuse so REASONABLE
and just and democratic a reque
as that? We do not see how the
could. We do not believe the
would. The chance, at least,
worth the trial.
Let's make 1T Are we in earne
about wanting temperance legisl
tiOr7 Are we enough in earnest
work for it2 Are there men an
-Cu,.n In CoIup,h{a wkn urflI al,