The Marlboro democrat. [volume] (Bennettsville, S.C.) 1882-1908, 1905-08-18
Dispensary is Best Solution of
Liquor Question, says
SENATOR TILLMAN.
II There Is Graft The Men Now Howllng
Against the System Made the Fraud
Possible. Turn Out Rascals II
Located and See that There
Is Nc Recurrence.

Liz IL Uno SpccCu VI Oeud"
tor Tlllman delivered by invitation
at Edgefield last Saturday as reported
for The State by Mr.. William Banks:
Mr.. Chairman, Ladies and Fellow
Citizens: 1t Is six years since l have
had the pleasure Of addressing q pub.
lilo meeting in this my home county.
On that occasion the issue was the
same n which we have today.
The people have passed on this ques.
tion five or six times and settled 1t by
overwhelming majorities. That year
the aggregate vote for the two Candi-
dates who were running as %dispensary
candidates was 28, 700 more than the
prohibition candidate got, but there
are some people In South Carolina who
have never been willing to submit to
the rule of the majority. They think
they know more, that they arc better
than the masses Of the people, that
they have the right to dictate to them
what they shall do. So here we have
again this same old bone OF contention
brought forward for politicians 70 gnaw
on. But why enter upon o discussion
OF this subject.
l propose In response to your ipvlt-
ALTON to discuss the principles undor.
lying 1T, and the wisdOm or unWis6om
OF n policy which is proposed; but
before l do that l want to have q word
personally with you.
Fifteen years ago by the SURFACES
OF ny fellow citizens l was taken from
my farm ten miles below Edgcfeld
and sent to Columbia to discharge the
duties Of Chief executive. After four
years absence, with only an occasion
al Visit here, l was elected to the Un-
tied States senate and for nearly II
years l have been filing az best |
could the responsible duties OF that
position. These two great offices, the
greatest in your gift, that you have
conferred upon me, have been sources
OF great qualification to nat but my
countrymen they have also caused me
to be an exile from homo, thoy have
carried me from among you, you whom
l love better than any people on
earth. l am q stranger in my own
land, and but for a few old mon whose
heads are gray or bald l know scarce
ly 20 men in this audience. You all
know me-; some feel aggrieyCd If |
DON'T step forward and call you by
name and shake your hard, but | have
met SO many people in 80 many States
that faces pass before me like g panor-
anna, ard ] cannot longer recognize
men. 1t Is not because L feel n
higher than you, for ] am still plain
Ben. Tillman. l have always regard.
ed myself your servant and not your
master.
THE PRICE or SILENCE"
l I'm here today to discuss this ques-
tion. Some have said 1t was improper
and out or place for a United States
senator to NEEDLE with local affairs.
These men have felt a%ggrieyed because
l Will not consent to shut my mouth,
and close my eyes to the condition In
which L am as much interested as YOU
are, and they have demanded Of me
the price Of silence. l amt built that
way. Thank God l ANT built that
way. daughter and applause When
get too cowardly to stand UP in your
midst or anywhere else and speak the
truth as l see it and understand it
Their l will have become too cowardly
n worthless to represent you any.
where.
l know / shall make enemies. |
know many OF my best friends are to.
day lined up in antagonism 10 the
liquor system which | devised. Be
cause they have cnanRed am [ to sur
render my conviction? l again saw |
amt builb that way. The ONCE OF I'm.
ted States senator il q high and noble
one, but tic Cflcc IL not worth the
price which some mon demand OF me.
Therefore ] am here in answer to
your invitation to tell you what |
think, not 10 dict&te-I know YOU ale
not built that way, you 90 your
thinking, and not as | say. What Is
the Issue? How shall we sell l!uuor
or whether we shall sell it at all? That
Is the whole proposition stated In q
brief sentence.
There are three systems that have
obtained In the StSte, not in The State
az a whole, but in PARIS or the state:
one Is the license system, the old bar.
room system, the second is the dis
penSary system under which we are
now working, and the thi d is prohi
Dition. The ingenuity OF man never
devised any roorc than those three
systems for the liquor control. Which
enc OF those Is tie blst? You have
heard eloquent ard strong arguments,
facts II figures as they were pre-,
sented in favor Of prohibition.
| confess TO you as between prom.
bition and the ~barIOonB, saloons or
any system Of license, / am q prohibi.
Zionist. But will prohibition prohibit?
j say no. These other gentlemen say
yes. Let's give the facts.
AssAILS PROHIBITION,
We bad prohibition in Elgeneld
about 1884 or 1895. When the dry
council was elected you could not buy
WhiSkey lawfully in the town OF Edge
Held as a beverage; the only way you
could buy 1t was to get q certificate
from q physician and 20 to some drug
store With the doctor's prescription, IL
you needed some aqua fortis-wbat
other Latin phrase 90 they employ?
a voice: %SplriIucus furmenti.
Iillman: Some OF you fellows who
used 1t rccOlloct, but | have FORGOTTEN
the formula. Laughto). / know this,
that prohibition in the town OF Edee-
Held was a Kissing and a by. word, and
that there was just az much drunk
enness then as there ever had been
under the saloon system; and certain
physicians who lived In This town then
grew abso'utely rich by giving pre-.
scriptionS or certificates to Johnson.
smith or Jones who applied to them
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