The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1903-02-01


IN SOUTHLAND.
(contlnuod from First Pass)
tho law havo been neutrallzed, AZ Z
Temperance law, It has collapsed
From that point Of View, II 10 a nisers,-
PIC sham. But II ID not hollow sham,
for Il Is ns full as II can hold Of mean
whlSkoy and corrupt politics.
A POLITICAL, MACHINE.
It has become political machine Of
great and far-reaching power, ideally
adapted to do dirty work for tho poll.
ticnns who control It. Tho ingenuity OF
bad men could not invent a system that
10 moro ready to tho hand of unsorup.
ulous political tricksters and demas oguos.
The man who gets control OF It has at
his command vast patronage, It Ii =
system, compact. unified, unscrupulous,
touching every community In tho State,
and ready to be manipulated for any
purpose whatever that Is not good. It
mas become a ourso, stench In tho nos
trls OF men who love pure politics;
corrupt and oorrupting influence In tho
political lifo OF tho State. It is an oSren-
| sivc and running sore Ia the vital parts
| OF tho civic body.
1t has inflicted another serious hurt, In
that II debauches public sentiment az to
the fundamental principle OF the temper
anoe movement. As they are logically
bound to do. tho chief advocates OF tho
system now preach to the people that the
sale Of Intoxicating liquors ns beverage
chief advocate Of the South Carolina
law two or three years ago, stumped tho
State In defense OF his pet system and
boldly took the position that the sale Of
Intoxicating aquor as beverage waA not
wrong In principle, and he triumphcd. In
q word. he has led the majority OF the
citizens Of that State down to the point
morally justtflable, To declare that the
liquor traffic Is morally wrong and then
to advocate that the State or the county
or the municipality engage in It Is so
hopelessly Inconsistent. as, in my judge
ment, to stultify the man who does It,
The dlspensary putB all citizens In the
business. How's 1t possible without maxi
Ing ourselves ridiculous to teach our
children that they ought not to drink In.
toxicants when the State or county, COM
posed Of all the citizens. offers It to them
for sale, and declares that 1t Ia not wrong
to offer It to ttem7 Tho children at any
rate. are able to see the absurdty of
such course. Tho people who sta-t out
on the dispensary programme Will never
StOp sllCTt VI DOLN clio SAFE HUQ
drinking Of into1icants, unless reason and
conscience should revolt from such mem
tai and moral confusion. Such fright
full down-grnde course of public Henti-
ment has been noticed by careful OBJ
servers In South Carolina.
It is to be hoped that the people Of
Virginia will BIO wise enough not to be
deceived about this vital matter. Local
dSpensaries hero and There under GER
tain conditions, may diminish drinking
temporarily. But tho good effort will be
only temporary. Liquor mon Will learn
how 10 ADJUST themselves to 1t. and then
Its temporary good effects Will disappear,
That has been tho course OF things In
South Carolina,
BRING RACK ALL EVILS.
Tho local dispensariea will lead finally
to a general State system, which will
after awhile bring back all the evils
| Of the traffic, as now conducted, with
some most serious ono OF It's own; and
the last 6tato," Of tho Commonwealth.
will BIO worse than the frat We can
never hope to promote temperance re-
| form ny lnaugurnting q system which
begins With the surrender of tho funda-
| mental principle OF the whole temper
| ance movement,
I have RICH regard for the honest men
who think they see 1t In a practicable
means OF eliminating some of the for-
| rors of the liquor traffic. But as a tenn
perance measure, tho dIspensary is a
sham The political atmosphere in which
it lives moves, and has It's being was
| signally manifested the other day in the
Capital Of South Carolina. when the
Lieutenant Governor ofsthe State, closely
| connected by natural and political Ties
! with tho father and chief advocate OF
tho dispensary law. loft his seat rs pre-
siding officer OF the Senate with pis-
tolls In his pocket, and shot down upon
/ ptr n ~ NH hoH t.,o,
his em1nlty. and who had earned tho
hostility Of tho dominant political ring,
in part by reason of his fight upon this
system. do not say that the dispen-
sary is responsible for this tragedy; but
I do say that this startling event Is good
| evidence that thore has been no ceva-
ton OF the moral and political senti-
| mert of She State under the donlinnn CO
| Of the dlspensary regime Virginia can
not afford to deoauch her citizenship and
| her political life with dlspensaly sys-
tenn, We ought to discourage all fana-
ticiBmI we ought not to waste our ener-
| giles enr prejudice our cause by malcing
and urging impossible demands We
must strike for actainable results. And
tho first and most important thing to be
| done by those who wish to promote
temperance, is to bring the majority OF
the people to the intelligent. sober. de-
Hberate conviction that the sale OF in
toxlcating liquor rs beverage ia
against good morals and sound public
policy, Until this Is done no good results
that arc lasting can be secured.
AGAINST GOOD MORALS,
It seems to me. that the truth OF this
proposition must be perfectly patent to
every thoughtful man. And we ought to
commit ourselves to every practicable
partial reform which proceeds upon the
principle that the sale of lnto5icants as
beverages is against good morals, and
sound public policy, and advance grad
ually toward the utter uprooting OF the
traffic But, 1t Is Of the utmost i'm
portance that we should set ourselves
against a system. which makes the State
| itself wholesale and retail liquor deal
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