The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1906-07-13
BColls VS. STATE D1spENsARY
ate in Favor Of County Sys-
Relieved There Would be
S sesa Graft and More Pro-
sSSa fit. .
onrnal and Review.


that tha liquor question will never be
nently settled, but this should
mot lleyent us from striving at all
times to settle it in such manner rs
The lights before us, we believe
best promote the interests of
s0elet Past experience encourages
make such efforts, because as
Asult Of such an effort the dis
lsallsaiy diplaced the old barroom sys-
gtemSpYhich had become intolerable to
the people of the state. The dispen-
system with its restriction of
sssIessSto daylight, in quantities not
less than half pints, was great i'm
Eif5f0yement over the barroom sys-
tenn but it has proven Objectionable
baealse of the fraud and corruption
which has existed at the Headquarters
in columbia from the establishment
s0fsthe dispensary to the present day
when South Carolina stands disgrace
SeaSbecause Of its corrupt state dispen-
SsaIy, Senator Tillman and the strong-
Sest friends of the dispensary admit
that the management Of the State dis
gpensary has been most corrupt and
ION in the demand for some improve
%ment. What shall the Improvement
sbea
our past experience justify us
sIn$Sendeavoring to patch up the pres
Sent system of purchasing in Column
eRia9 We think not. From its very
inception the officials of the dispen-
Ssaty in Columbia have been under
suspension and the disclosures dur
ing the past year have shown in most
5Gases these suspicious were we'll
laf0unded. The State institution is a
trust with such tremendous business
that it is almost impossible to keep
up with and check it's management,
and no effort is made to do it. It
Iesan be patched up but cannot gain
the confidence of the people and has
Wherefore outlived any usefulness it
might have had. There are many
good reasons who the Raysor-Man-
ming bill and all other similar patch
ing schemes should not be experiment
ted with, but the best Of all is that
At is not necessary. Those who believe
5the dispensary system the best meth
5od of controlling the liquor question
surely do not believe it because the
3liQuors are purchased in Columbia.
They approve Of it because the man.
,ner in which liquors are sold in the
county dispensaries has improved up
Bon conditions existing under the bar
Groom system, and because Of the re-
svenue which is derived from the dis
spensary. These are the features which
have appealed to the people and a
continuance of these features is not
dependent upon continuance Of the
sstate dispensary. Abolish the State
gdispensary and we can retain these
sgood features in county dispensary
managed by citizens of this county,
Under the control and supervision Of
20 grand jury composed of citizens Of
Sthe county. The difference will be
athat instead of our local dispcnsarics
purchasing supplies from the state
sdispensary an Aiken county board
Ewill purchase direct. IF there are
amy objections to such a change we
Edo not know them, but we do know of
many advantages to be gained. In
sthe first place it will lesson the op-
Sportunities for graft. A member of
athe board of control of the state dis
Spensary is under no particular sur
SVeillance and is ease of everybody s
@business being nobody's business. The
management of the county dispensary
Kwould be investigated by the grand
Sjury composed of citizens of our
Ecounty, and even if the members of
Mthis body failed to discover wrong
$doing-should there be any-every
sensible man knows that a man could
¬ be guilty of fraud for any length
Fof time or to any great extent in our
@county government without being
discovered. The county dispensary
Swould be close to the people. The
Emen is charge would necessarily be
Smen whose character and habits
would be known to our people and
any sign Of sudden prosperity or dis
1 play of silk hats with $1,000 bills
would Immediately inspire suspicion
and cause trouble for the gentleman.
The widest publicity can be given to
the conduct Of the business and the