The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1906-08-01
MAKING MONEY.
That Is What Commissioner Ia.
tum Says About the
STATE DISPENSARY,

SOASSs EHS$SiSAbS W NkA~ = So ~
the Dispensary Assets Are
Nearly Double that of
Its Liabilities.
Mr.. W. O. Tatun, state dispenSsrJ
commissioner has given out the fol
lowing statement:
Recently number Of papers, and
MI. J. Fraser Lyon, candidate for st
tcrney general, asserted that the dis
pensary was insolyens: thas il 1t
were out in liquidation it could not
pay It's debts. At the time this state
nent was made came out in a caro-
asking 8 Suspension Of Judgment and
asserting that the dispsnsary was per
rectly solvent. / said I could pro
duce the figures to provs that the dis
pensary was amply able to pay every
dollar it owed. / have the figures 10
more than sustain my contention and
will submit them in this statement.
It took much time and lots Of work to
90 through the great mass OF accounts
at the state dispsnsary and prepare q
condensed statement showing exactly
the condition Of the institution. !
could not expect the newspapers tc
publish all the figures IN their col
umns, but invite any cit:zen, par
ticulsrly Mr.. Lyon and the eoltors Of
the papers which q Questioned the solV-
ency OF the dispenssry, to call st the
state dispensary and examine for
themselves the books and accounts.
and 80 verify the statement / have
prepared. Now here aEe the figures,
condensed to the point where any
mind can grasp them and any memo
~ retain them:
''On June l, 1906, the state dispen-
ssry owed for wniskey, beer, etc., 3
total Of s735, 1886 "a. Since June l,
and up to and including July q, 1905,
there has been paid on the above &C
counts q total OF s45l, l,005.6 81, leaving
9 balance Of S2S4. 4.SSl.33. But OF this
balance SI97 3SS 81 is rot yet due,
which leaves tha amount due on old
accounts sS7, 492 Il, and the state
oispersary had on hand at the close
OF business July 81, cash balance OF
se6,5lS.76, OF SO, ,026 c5 more thar
enough TO pay an accounts then due.
However, when the new board Of
directors were restrained by order OF
the dispensary Investigating commit
tee from paying old accounts OF the
6ispensarY instead Of letting the dis
pensary funds lie idle, they discount
ed q number OF new accounts by this
course making an extra p1cht for the
stste Of SO, 908. 32. OF the accounts
so discounted, an aggregate OF s79,-
10 Is would not have been due on or
before July 81, snd SO hsd not those
accounts been discounted the cash
balance on that day would have been
sl75, ,637.5z, or sS7, ,145 81 more than
enough to have paid all accounts due
st that time.
"On July q the State dispenssry
owed for whiskey, beer, supplies, ETC.,
s443, ,225. 81, though only 81 1927 OF
this amount, as stated above, was
due on thst date. Any assertion that
the disnensary is not solvent and coulc
not psy out every dollar it owes If it
owes Il it owes II it went into qlida-
tion seems ridiculous, when the as
sets Of the institution are compared
with that total OF its debts.
THE ACTAL FIGURES.
son July q, the total Of its debt
was s443, ,225 81, to meet which II hsd
easily assets Of 5000 0C0 in round fg-
ures, made up Of s96, 5l5 Is cash on
hand, about 1865, 600 Of stock IN the
state and county dispensaries, real es-
tate which cost $50. $780, 56, supplies
OF bottles, seals, corks, etc., machin-
cry and cf1ce supplies. Il all OF its
assets were sold at fifty cents on the
dollar they would be more than suf1'
cient to pay it's Indebtedness. In the
above I have given the vslue OF the
real estate st it's cost price, but 1t
must be remembered that it was
bought before the tremendous boom
OF recent yesrs in the price Of Colum-
bia real estate. The opinion OF rsal
estate men, architects and the county
auditor Of Richland county Is that a
very conservative estimate OF the pres
ent value OF the dispensary real estate
would be $3.50, 900. Accepting that
figure would make the oispensary's 8
assets 3 million dollars with which 10
meet debts Of less than $3.50, 600.
Far from being insoivent. II the dis
pensary were closed out 1t could pa?
every cent it owes and hundreds OF
thousands Of dollars into the school
fund. TO which ii has contributed In
the last ten years 81, 35l, ,697.65, be-
sides paying s3,eel, 325 4s to the
towns and counties In that same pc.
rcd, a total Of SIS, 343,0 ,023 p.
"That Is the condition Of the dis
pensary today. The facts given
ahoye sustain my contsnti0n that the
dispensary is in better condition to
day than ever before. When l TOOK
charge Of the dispensary in March,
1904, the dispensarg's condition was
shown by the following statement
complied on February 20, 1904:
Quarterly statement OF State dis
pensary for quarter ending February
20, 1904:
Assets.
Cash in state treasury
Feb 20, le04....... 11oeo' % q
Teams and Wagons. o4.o'
Supplies Gnventory Feb a,o oe
%, l9O4)........ a4' 4'ozo.o<
Machinery aud Office n2 =
lures
oopots pos 90 1eoN 1,472 4
80 80 astate 81 $50. 5,
Merchandise in hanos
OF dispensers Feb ~, ,ooo o
1904 ........ ..... wv WV
EpventnTV