The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1905-06-01

That the dispensary IL not Sun.
day School lie plain to any person
with open eyes. 1t has been q mys
terry to many that men prominent
In church and sunday school work
should ever take up. advocate and
pray for the establishment Of
whiskey shop.
To monopolize q business which
they themselves characterize as
diabolical disreputable and damna-
BILE has never to laymen seemed a
consistent attitude for preachers and
zealots in what they term the sal
walton of this sin-cursed world. Yet
there were intelligent men, to say
nothing Of fanatical preachers. weak
minded women, and ::childred of va
rious ages and degrees of intelli
gence who were actually wrought
into religious frenzy over the pros
pect of substituting whiskey trust
under the combinen auspices of
church and State for the twenty odd
legitimate tax-paying enterprises
which formerly existed in the City
of Raleigh. The best that could be
claimed by its most enthusiastic
supporters was that the dispensary
would reduce the evils Of the drink
habit and replenish the Golfers Of a
tax-ridden town and county.
AS money making device it is
proving blooming success, and
Mark Twain's logic that ut is hard
to argue agin success" has doubt
less had its effect with those who
would tolerate almost any enterprise
that promised to tighten the burden
Of taxation, regardless to the princi-
pie involved.
Those who expected and hoped to
see the evil reduced-in fact mini
mixed. if observent people, are
sadly disappointed, unless it is a
greater sin to sell or buy and drin K
an ounce than pint. It has not
been the purpose Of this paper to
advocate 'r oppose any local senti-
ment on the question Of prohibition
or license, at least until such ques'
ton is up for consideration; but to
those honestly in favor of prohibition
who looked for such results as proph-
esied for the dispensary we would
say, We cried for bread and were
given stone. Ye asked for fish
and have received a serpent four
fold more obnoxious than was the
evil sought to be corrected. You
need not answer by quoting from
the Mayors docket. You need not
compare the number Of arrests be-
fore and after to show the fallacy of
the statements here made. Common
sense and observation will teach you,
if you are teachable, that the man
who is forced to buy bottle full OF
none will generally retire to some
secluded nook to "tank up" and in.
stead of congregating in the beat of
some policeman to do their reveling
the real scene of the debauch is in
some back lot, livery stable, hay loft
or suburban retreat, if not safe with.
in their own homes where wives
and children instead of policemen
may enjoy the full benefit of thei,
companionship. And who will de.
ny that drunk man is more dan.
gerous either at home or at large
than in the City lock up? In
stead of reducing the evil it has been
transferred. After all it is mere
question Of geographical location
with the odds greatly in favor OF
the former system.
| A citizen Of Raleigh, formerly en-.
gagged in the saloon business, was
asked if he would return to his old
occupation, in case the City should
again license open bar-rooms. He ~.
piled that he was not in the habit OF
considering propositions at so great
q distance, but he had learned some
lessons from his friends of the town
and church organizations, one OF
which was that the sin of dispensing
the fiery liquid consists in the small.
ness of the quantity sold at a time,
and if he should again engage in the
business he would sell no more
shorts. He would substitute pint
and quart bottles for drinks and
thus make his business not only re.
spectacle but even righteous while
increasing his sales correspondingly.