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

~ s"o U.s.
the Dispensary Assets Are
Nearly Double that of
Its Liabilities.
MI. w. o. Tatum, state dispensary
commissioner has given out the fol.
lowing statement:
Recently q NJ lumber OF papers, and
Mr.. j. Fraser Lyon, candidate for at
torney general, agaertad thai the dis.
pensary was insolvonb: that If ID
were put In liquidation 1t could not
pay it's debts. At the bime bhia state-
ment was made / camo Out in q card
asking a suspension Of Judgment and
asserting that the d%iSpensRry was por.
fectly solvent. l asid l GOULD pro
duce the figures to provs that the dis.
pensary was amply able to pay every
dollar 1t owed. I 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. l
could not expect the newspapers to
publish all the figures In their COL
umns, but | invite any Citizen, par
ticularly Mr.. Lyon and the editors Of
the papers which questioned the solv-
ENJOY Of the dispensary, to call at the
state dispensary and examine for
themselves the books and accounts,
0n6 On ynrtfu fl,n cfo 4 - -, ~ .--
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 1886, $3.50 94. Since juno l,
and up to and including July 81, 1905,
there has been paid IN the above &C
counts a total Of S451 ,005. 81, leaving
o balance Of 1924. 1881. SO. But of this
balance 8191 1888 81 Is not yet due,
which leaves thq amount due on old
accounts $S7 ,492 II, and the state
dispensary had on hand at tho close
Of business July 81, a cash balance OF
900, SIS. 76, Oh s 0,O26 O5 more than
enough to pay all accounts then due.
hOWCVCA, WhCu ullo u0" UOAIu VI
directors were restrained by order of
the ~dispenssry INVESTIGATING commit
lee from paying old accounts of the
dispensary instead Of letting the dis.
pensary funds lie idle, they discount
ed 8 raaIoer Of new accounts by this
course making an extra profit for the
state Of 80. 908 80. OF the accounts
30 discounted, an aggregate Of &c.,
ll9 70 would not have been due on or
before July 81, and SO had not those
accounts been discounted the cash
balance on that day would have been
9175, 637 81, or 887, 145 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.,
S443, 225. "a, 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 IL
owes II IL owes If 1T went into l'quida.
tton seems ridiculous, when the as
sets Of the institution are compared
with that total Of It's debts.
THE ACTAL FIGURES.
"On July 81, tho total of It's debt
was 8443,2 "a, TO meeb which Id had
easily assets IT 5000 600 in round fig
ures, made up Of s98, 5l8 10 cash on
hand, about 1905, 600 Of stock In bhe
state and county dl~spensarien, real co.
tate which cost $50. 800. SO, supplies
OF BOTTLES, seals, corks, etc., machin-
cry and Office supplies. II all Of tta
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 1T It's cost price, but II
must be remembered that 1t waa
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 10 thai q
very rVative estimate OF the pres.
emit value OF the dispensary real estate
would be $3.50. 600. Accepting that
figure would make the dispenbary'f
assets q million dollars with which 20
meet debts OF less than $3.50, 600.
Ear from being insolvenb, If the dis.
pensary were closed Out 1T could pay
every cent 1t owes and hundreds OF
thousands Of dollars into the school
fund, TO which Ii has contributed In
the last ten years 1881, 007. 65, be.
Sides paying S3,001,325 40 to the
towns and counties In that same pc.
riod, q total OF $5,343, 023.12.
THAT Ia the condition OF bhe dis
pensary today. The facts givol
above sustain my contention that bh,
~dispensary is In betber condition TO
day than evor before. When 1 tool
charge Of the %dispensary In March
1904, the dispcnssry's condition wa
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. ...... 1880. 2!
Teams and Wagons. "a, OF
Supplies Qnventory Feb
%, 1900 ........... "a, 1928. o,
Machinery and oflce Fix
lures .......... 80. $500
Contraband Inventory
Feb 20, 1907. -. 1,4T2 4
Real estate. ...,.... 81. $780,
Merchandise In hands
OF dispensers Feb 20.
1904 ......... ..... 40U. Dos
Merchandise Inventory
Of stock at State ola.