The Marlboro democrat. [volume] (Bennettsville, S.C.) 1882-1908, 1906-08-03
MAKING MONEY.
That Is What Commissioner Ia.
tum Says About the
STATE DISPENSARY,

Jones. According to the Figures
the Dlspensary Asseta Ara
Nearly Double that of
Its Liabilities.
Mr.. w. o. Tatum, state dispensary
commissioner has given out the fol.
lowing statement:
Recently nu mber Of papers, and
Mr.. j. Fraser Lyon, candidate for at"
tOrney general, asserted that tho dis.
pensary was ingolvent: that IL 10
were put in liquidation 1T could not
pay It's debts. At the time bhia state
ment was made I came out in q card
asking q suspension Of Judgment and
asserting that the dispenssry was per.
fectly solvent. said l could pro
duce the figures to provs that the dis
pensary was amply able to pay every
dollar it owed. have the figures to
more than sustain my contention and
will submit them In this statement.
1t took much time and lots Of work to
go through the great mass Of accounts
at the state dispensary and prepare q
condensed statement showing exactly
the condition Of the institution. 1
could not expect tho newspapers to
publish all the figures in their col
umns, but invite any oitizsn, par
ticularly Mr.. Lyon and the editors OF
the papers whicb questioned the solv-
enoy Of the dispensary, to call at the
state dispensary and examine for
themselves the books and accounts,
and so verify the statement l have
prepared. Now here are the figures,
condensed to the point where any
mind can grasp them and any memo
ry retain them:
"On June /, 1905, the state dispen-
sary owed for wniskey, beer, etc., q
total Of 8736, 886 o. Since juno l.,
and UP to and including July 81, 1905,
there has been paid on the above ao
counts a total of S46l, ,0O5. 61, leaving
3 balance Of 1924, 88l.33. But of this
balance 919f 388 81 is not yet due,
which leaves tha amount dno on old
accounts $87, 492 II, and the state
dispensary had ON hand at the close
Of business July 81, q cash balance Of
500, ,518,7 76, or 80, ,O28 05 moro than
enough to pay all accounts then due.
However, when the new board Of
directors we're restrained by order Of
}tlie4 dispenaary In vestigating commit
tee from paying old accounts of the
dispenssrY instead OF letting the dis
pensary funds lie idle, they discount.
ed 8 p2mner OF new accounts Dy this
course making an extra profit for the
state Of 50 .908 80. OF the accounts
30 discounted, an aggregate of 979,-
ll0 76 would not have been due on or
before July 81, and 30 had not those
accounts been discounted the cash
balance on that day would have been
8l75,6 ,637 81, or 887, l45 81 more than
enough to have paid all accounts due
at that time.
"On July 81 the State dispensary
owed for whiskey, beer, supplies, ETC..
8443, 225. 81, though only 81, 492 II Of
this amount, as stated above, was
due on that date. Any assertion that
the dispensary Is not solvent and could
not pay out every dollar it owes If Ii
owes If IL owes If it went into quida.
tion seems ridiculous, when the as
sets OF the institution are compared
with that total Of It's debts.
THE ACTAL FIGURES.
"On july 81, the total of It's debt
was 9443,225 81, 10 meet which 10 had
easily assets OF 5000 600 In round fig
ures, made up Of 500, ,5l8 70 cash on
hand, about 8665, 600 Of stock In the
state and county dlspenaaries, real es.
tate which cost 856. 360.50, Bupplies
OF bottles, seals, cOrks, etc., machin-
cry and office supplies. II all of It's
assets were sold at fifty cents on the
dollar they would be more than SUM.
cient to pay It's Indebtedness. In the
above have given the value of the
real estate at It's cost price, but 1t
must be remembered that 1t was
bought before the tremendous boom
OF recent years In the price Of Column
bia real estate. The opinion OF real
estate men, architects and the county
auditor OF Richland county is that q
very conserv vative estimate OF the pres.
emit value OF the dispensary real estate
would be $3.50, 900. Accepting that
figure would make the dispenaary's
assets million dollars with which 90
meet debts Of less than S45O,OOO.
Ear from being insolvenb, II tho dis.
penSary we're closed Out ID could pay
every cent 1t owes and hundreds OF
Thousands OF dollars into the school
fund, to which 1t has contributed In
the last ten years 8l,3B1 ,697. 65, ba.
sides paying 83,001, 1875 40 to the
towns and counties In that same pc.
riod, total Of $5, 343. .023.12
THAT Is the condition OF the dis
pensary today. The facts given
above sustain my contention that bhs
dispensary Ia in better condition TO-
day than ever before. When 1 tool
charge Of the dispensary In March
1904, the dispensary's condition was
shown by the following statement
compiled on February 20, 1904:
quarterly statement OF State dis
, pensary for quarter ending February
20, 1904:
ASSETS.
Cash In state treasury
Feb 20, 1904 ....... 8 1850, 2t
Ieams ana Wagons. "a. 0(
Supplies Qnventory Feb
%, 1900. ...... 34,828. .Oa
Machinery and ONCE fix
lures ............ $4,000
Contraband Inventory
Feb 20, l90D... -. 1,412 a
Real estate. .......... SO $50 81
Merchandise In hands
of dispensers Feb 20.
l004 ........ ..... 4OU, DOB. 81
Merchandise Inventory
Of stock at State dis