The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1905-06-27
HARD KNOCK FOR TRACY.
.AbbeviIIe Editor Talks Of Temper
ance Lecturer Who Made Money.

&C pleasure ~ d la 81 'N'i-1>
oeonle. saws the .Abbevillc Press and
Banser. He has been here now long
enough for the people 70 begin to
find fault or to pick flaws il his pro-
cecdingS, and he has learned. TOO. that
Abbeville is not i'll the highest state
Of perfection.
Dr.. Tracy'S show as some people
;ns,st OH calling it, is all right, bit
.t-re are differences of opinion as 20
the merits or dement's of his Lectures,
which are interSpersed between the
canvas scenes. And he thinks 1t very
hard for the town council to charge
. license fee for 'preaching the gos-
pei of temperance On the question
eherc may be difference of opinion
among Our people, Some may re-
gard the doctors performance as
business proposition. while others
NAV think that he is travelling around
the country solely i'll the interest OF
sinf,,I creatures who take drink
or dance or play cards. The doctor
seems to be in earnest in his talks
however misguided he may be as to
facts about the liquor business IN this
state. 1t is plainly to be seen that ne
has been inspired more by the license
people than by the temperance ele-'
;nent He. like the stray prohibition
lists that are to be found IN different
parts of the state. seems to look en-
.sirely to the saloon element tor MS
,:acts and his arguments.
If he brought forth a single state
ment that did not originate IN the sa-
loon element or which had not been
repeated times without number, it es-
caped Our notice. While we accord
70 the doctor the best and purest mo-
tives. yet we think we have never BE-
fore heard speaker who did not say
something which we had not heard
before. We have not given much
thought to the suggestion that he was
sent out bv the Law and Order
y .eaeue in a crusade against the dis
,pensary. While he quotes from au-
vthor;ties which we presume come
from that quarter, we cannot 1hlaS
THAT Dr.. Tracy is doing anything
worse than trying to support hlmsen
and family. The making OF speecnes
and the exhibition Of pictures IS
legitimate business, and we think ne
is entitled to any money that may be
maid to him. His show is worth from
* cents to 50 cents, to say nothing OF
his lectures, which are thrown in as
good measure. so to speak. he
charges nothing for either the show
or the lecture. He prepares great
auumber OF free seats, and Tor the
chairs he charges only 5 cents on
which the occupant can rest during
She show.
But instead OF charging an admlS-
Sion fee he allows opportunity t"
make ''silver offering. This Is
right Nothing wrong in that. Ana
then the town council gave hlm an
~opporunity ior giving five dollar
offering at the clerks desk. Nothing
wrong in this. either.
The doctor didn; seem 10 like the
zsivins OF the silver offering wh'ch
was required of him by the council
fHe asked the preachers, says the Ao-
!5evi.1e Press and Banner. and others
TO iutercede with the council to stop
the license fec OF S.. This was the
>onl, town. with 4 single exception.
where he has been required to pay
license for preaching the gospel OF
temperance. On this subject his hear
ers were nearly Of one opinion. but ne
kept up the talk and criticised the ac-
~tion of the city council Of .Abbeville
until we think he had nearly convert
ed the whole OF his hearers to the
opinion that the town council did cN-
actly right in requiring daily license
fee for conducting an alleged religious
show.
While we think the doctor is