The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1903-01-11

A Higher Moral Tone the Gu growth Of is Es-
tabishmen,---r he Time is Not Yet
Fipe for Total Proh.-
biton,
BY F. N. EGERToN.
Written for the News and Observer.

Written for the News and Observer.
Louisburg, y. c., Jan. 10.-I have been
frequently asked about the workings of
the Louisburg dispensary, and 1 suppose
the Legislature will pass some general
law in regard to the liquor business and
for those who may be interested in the
matter, 1 will say that the dispensary,
especially for tobacco towns, is the So
luton of the liquor business. We tried
prohibition and found that it was too
far in advance of the times. No matter
how good a law is it becomes a dead
letter when it's violation is winked at
as much as prohibition was with us.
In my opinion the cause of temperance
was put back twenty years at the time
we made total prohibition a State issue.
The old soaks are going to have their
bottle any way. And it is the young
men that we want to keep from learning
to drink. There is not the fascination
and sociability of drinking out of a bot
tie that there is in the rattle of the
ice and the glass. We have had dis
pensary now for four years, and those
who, in the beginning, were its bitterest
enemies, are now amongst its best
friends. The dispensary sells a great
deal of liquor, and the revenue from 1t
is considerably more than we received
from the seven bar rooms. But there is
not near as much drinking, nor near as
many cases before the mayor, and there
is better order in town with half the
number of police that we had with the
bar rooms. When we had the bar rooms
n great many would come to town and
meet old friends and go to the bar nd
take a drink, and treat each other, and
the first thing they knew they would be
drunk, when they did not intend to do
so when they came to town. The dis
pensary takes away the temptation, and
the closing of the dispensary at sunset
does away with the night drinking that
led so many young men off,
There is no question, but morally the
dispensary is better than the open bar
room. preacher said to me, in speak
ing of the dispensary. '"You still have a
lyon in your town" And l said: YES,
that is true but it is better to have one
Gagged lion than to have seven loose in
the streets"
And as to its effects on business, the
business OF Louisburg has improved every
year since we had the dispensary, and
a good many who spent their money
with the bar rooms, now carry it home
to their family and pay their debts bet
ter than they used to, and a good many
white and black, have bought and paid
for homes that 1 do not believe would
have done so had the bar rooms re-
NAMED with us. And there is not near
as much drinking amongst the negroes,
and l believe we have the best behaved
negroes in and around Louisburg than
there is in the State. You never hear
of drunken and impudent negroes push
ing ladies off the side walks here. They
are polite and we'll behaved, and there
is a good feeling between the races.
believe it is largely due to our not hav-
ing the bar rooms.
| would like to say to all who are in
doubt about it, either morally, or as
to how it will affect business, try it
Continued on Page H.