Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1905-09-06
CROMER-TILLMAN LETTERS.
Cromer Quotes Supreme Court on Whiskey---The
Senator Gives His Open Opinion.

prohibitionists is exactly the Ian.
guage in which the Supreme Court
defines the attitude of the law on
the subject. That decision fixes the
point of view from which the State
is bound to regard the question, and
from that point of view the State
may take control of the traffic to
police it, but not to profit by it..
And if the view of Hugh Farley,
chivalrous spirit, and others who
we're opposed to the profit feature
had been adopted, the result might
have been different. ! admit that it
is wise to "hobble the DEVIL" whom
you are powerless effectually to
chain; but having hobbled the devil,
/ protest that it is not right TO make
him yoke-fellow with the spirit of
progress in our schools and open the
way for our children to embrace him
as an angel of light.
Returning to my historical paral-
lei, l am not inclined to press the
lessons of the prohibition vote of
1892 unduly. After reminding me
that $4,000 did not vote in that cleo
tion, which you denominate "side
show" you say that "this is gov
ernment of majorities." True, but
it is government of majorities that
vote, and not of majorities that stay
away from the polls. AT that cleo
tion, prohibition received, in this
county, more than 1000 votes, a
majority of the total vote cast. But
when they came to fasten the dis
pensary upon Newberry county that
vote of more than 1000 was nullified
by petition of 70 freeholders in the
town of Newberry, "a of whom were
negroes.
The attitude of public sentiment
towards the dispensary law in this
county has assumed three distinct
phases in succession. In it's earlier
stages the Law did not have a fair
test. For reasons that need not be
enumerated public sentiment was
resentful, and the law against illicit
traffic in liquor was not enfol ced {.
But violations of the law became 80
scandalously open and unrebuked
that a revulsion took place in the
sentiment of the community, and for
years the law has been enforced.
We have now arrived at the third
phase, in which the sentiment of the
community seems to be crystalizing
in opposition to the whole scheme,
owing largely, / think, to the fact
that the moral sense of the people is
offended by the constant effort to
justify the law by appealing to its
revenue feature; but owing also to
corruption in the administration of
the law.
1t was not my original purpose
and now make no attempt TO refute
satisfies or to argue the question in
detail. Unless the conditions of
two States are exactly similar it is
hard to arrive at a just conclusion
by contrasting statistics of crime.
But we might quote statistics until
the people are dizzy, and still be-
lieve that large number of our
counties will be satisfied with moth
ing short of actual experiment after
the example of Marlboro, Greenwood
and Cherokee.
We reach the parting of our ways
at the concluding clause of your let
ter. | quote the paragraph:
81 will not say that your vision is
clouded by fanaticism, but if it be
true that 'he who makes two blades
of grass grow where only one grew
before, is public benefactor,' then
is it not equally true that he who
conceived a scheme by which drunk
enness was reduced, temperance en-
couraged and decency and good
order increased, and withal made
the demon whiskey contribute to the
education of the ignorant masses,
need he be ashamed of his work ?"