The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1906-02-07
PRESENT STATUS OF
DISpENSARY LEGISLATION
The Amended and Transformed Morgan SIIl
Appears TO Fave Right Of Way in hssa
CHARLESTON AND COLUMBIA foRLlGEASE
Affairs Seem to sc Very Much Siud-
died and no One Knows What VIII
BE the Cutcome-Thc Eaysor-Sian-
Ming Bill in the Senate.


Ming Bill in the Senate.
Columbia. February 5.-The violen:
churning the Morgan local option
bill received in Friday nights more or
less violent and riotous session Of the
House has left tie entire dispensa1y
legislative situation in a rather con-
fused state even in the minds of
majority of the members Of the House
itaself. In the first place Mr.. Morgan
had changed his bill in many particu-
lars. offering the changes in the form
OF a substitute which Of course as
suneds the parliamentary rights and
privileges of an amendment itself.
Then there were a long series OF
amendments to this amendment by
Mr.. Sanders Of Spartanburg, and the
Charleston delegation had UP long
substitute amendment for Section 81,
giving Charleston high license sys-
tenn. Attempts were made to amend
the amendments to the amendment,
which were Of course out of order.
Between times there were efforts,
some successful and some unsuccess-
full to amend other sections of the
substitute. While all this was going
on Mr.. Rucker, of Anderson, was
watching for a chance for a fnak
movement with his bill providing for
county dispensaries or county prohi-
ton through elections to be held next
May in ali counties, Charleston and
Richland alone being given chance
at high license, no county to change
its status except by petition once in
four years.
1t may prove of interest therefore
to present briefly the situation as it
will present itself to the House when
debate ons the bill will be resumed
at the close Of third reading bills on
Tuesday.
: The parliamentary situation is this:
AL, Of the sections of the substitute
have not yet been read and amend.
r.ents may. be offered to these. If this
paint is passed safely it still remains
for the substitute to be adopted as a
whole. After that it cannot be amend
ed :n,-", -e except by unanimous
cons. third reading it may
be xii otion to recommit Or
to ind, 2stpone. 1t seems
practically certain, however, that the
bill will pass the House with but few
changes from the condition in which
it was left Friday night, the bill Of
Mr. John Beltor Watson. Of Ander-
son, throwing the whole matter into
the primaries next summer and call
ing upon the next legislature to enact
the decision into Law for five years
being quietly stranglel along with the
Rucker bill, both Of which are incon-
sistent with the Morgan bill.
Then the tug Of war!wiil take place
in the Senate, which has not yet voted
on its own bill on~the dispensary sub
ject, the Raysor-Manning committee
substitute bill, which the friends Of
the dispensary will endeavor to pass
instead of the Morgan bill. The final
result is all in doubt even to the minds
OF the most experienced legislators. 1t
seems to be generally accepted that the
senate is about evenly divided as be
tween the two general factions.
Whether it will pass Or kill :ts own
bill. OF pass or fatally amend or who!-
! iv reject the Morgan till as i comes
from the house is each an uasolved
problem The oispensa,y advocates
| still place their chief hope in the sem
ate refusing to adopt the House b!.l
and the House rejecting whatever the
! Senate sends over, thus preventing any
=
" disappoint the anti-dispensary peo-
pie, since the Supreme co@rt has sus-
tained the Brice act, which. therefore,
may still be used to stamp the dispen-
sary out Of the State county by
county. And the revelations Of the
dispensary investigating committee
/ continues to make the position of the
dispensary people more uncomfortable
and insecure.
But above ali the fire and smoke
and din and confusion Of battle there
Icons the bouyant, smiling, compla-
cent countenance of Chairman Evans
who says he "desn't care damn
what they do to it,
Following is summary OF the pro-
visions of the Morgan bill as amend
cd by the House:
Section one forbids the traffic IN