Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1905-07-12

subject in it's various phases, and this
becomes the more necessary as you no
tify me in advance that you desire my
answer for publication.
shall preface what I write by lay
ing down certain general principles
which will be disputed only by those
who are fanatical and unwilling to
consider any subject from any other
standpoint than that of bigotry and
prejudice. Most men will agree to the
following:
i. All men love stimulants and are
usually slaves to some one kind, as
witness the strong appetite which pre-
walls for coffee, tea, tobacco, beer,
wine, brandy, whiskey, morphine, qul-
nine, cocaine, etc. With the exception
of some of the drugs mentioned there
are no Injurious effects Immediately
perceptible and nGne of them intoxi-
cate except those containing alcohol.
Alcoholic beverages in moderation are
no more harmful than tea or coffee,
probably less so.
2. The abuse Of liquor by men drink
ing to excess has caused as much or
more crime and misery than any other
one thing.
8. The proper policing and control
of the liquor traffic so as to minimize
its abuses is one of. the most perpleX-
ing and troublesome questions with
which any government has to zeal.
Men have never agreed as to any one
method being best and never will. and
there is constant agitation OF the
subject in some form going on all the
while in almost every State in the
Union.
4. Experience shows that some men
will have liquor as beverage and
that no law has ever yet been devised
which will prevent theL obtaining 1t.
Wise men are therefore content to re-
duce the evils of liquor selling and
liquor drinking to the mipimum, and
the question at issue in South Caro-
lima now as it has been these fifteen
OF twenty years past, is how to 40
this.
There is no need for any heat or pas
sion in discussing the subject and we
should divest ourselves of all preju-
dices in it's consideration. Three poll
cies have at one time or another been
adopted in dealing with the question.
+ieeaseIhigh or low, prohibition and
the dispensary system. Since 1888 the
last named has been the method fol-
lowed in this State, but all along there
have been staunch advocates, OF the
other two systems embracing within
their ranks many Of the most intelll-
gent and best people we have. 1t is
therefore, eminently proper that we
recognize these earnest, honest advo-
Gates as having just what. we claim tor
ourselves, no other purpose than tnat
of the public welfare. And those OF us
who have been the supporters OF the
dispensary system must meet them IN
argument and show from the expert
ence through which the people OF the
State have passed as well as with force
and logic that the advocates of both
prohibition and high license are in er-
rOr.
You ask, "Have you lost faith in the
dispensary system and do you consider
it so inherently defective that it cannot
be purged of corruption and made to
serve its original purrose?, | answer
most emphatically, no. believe the
principle of the State control and the
sale of liquor through bonded Officers
to be the best that was>-asfeef uevlsed; ;
that t-comes nearerfo the ideal idea
of teaching m@et6 use liquor instead
of~apasing It. and throwing around it
rSafeguards which will be the best for
the cause of temperance. There IS no
inherent defect in the scheme, and If
there be corruption and mal-aomlnls-
tration in the enforcing of the dispen-
sary law it is directly traceable to the
LEGISLATURE and to those who have been
placed in charge of it's execution. In the
absence Of any positive proof of corrup-
tion we must await with deep interest
the investigation which is now under
way and urge those in charge OF that
important work to earnest, thorough
and sreedy action The people believe
there is corruption and great deal OF
it. Very many things go to show that
this belief has good foundation in fact.
We ough. to know as soon as possible
just what and how far men have been
guilty Of unlawful behavior.
The suspicion which now hangs over
the dsDensary like pail will cause
many to hastily vote for itse destruc-
ton, who are still or have been strong
believers in the disrensary system as
means of controlling the sale of whis-
key. So / would say to the gentlemen
who are in charge of the Investigation
that they can do the people OF the State
a great service by lie tting in the light
and probing to the bottom. We want
to know what is wrong and we can
then determine how to provide rem
edy, while the criminal courts will, or
ought to provide punishment for the
wrongdoers.
The dispensary law has been under
fire in the courts and on the hustlngs
ever since the system was lnaugurated
There has been only oDr general elec-
tion in the State, the lasi in which it
was not an issue. 1t won victory after
victory for it was the main issue in the
election of 1894, in the election for the
constitutional convention in 1885, anu
in the State elections of 1896, 1898, 1900
and 1902. Those candidates for public
office who carried its banners were al
r7ays victorious
What then has caused the present
upheaval? Why are petitions circulat-
ing in dozen or more counties ask
ing for an election to vote it out under
the Brice law, and that too in coun-
ties which, in the past its known adj
vocates have always had large major
tiles. Have the people any greater
faith in prohibition than they have had
all these past years? do not think
so. Are the advocates Of high license
any stronger than they have been?
do not hink so. l am bound to believe
that the existing dissatisfaction and
desire to destroy the dispensary comes
from the well-night universal belief
of the people that there is corruption
in its administration and because the
last Legislature failed to take any ac-
tion other than that ID appoint a COM
mittee to investigate. There were
charges, with how much truth they
were made 1 don't know, that the dis
pensary influence in the Legislature
was paramount. Anyhow, the friends