Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-03-05
D|SPENSARY IS DEAD
TiIIman's Pet Scheme in South
Carolina Over With.
MUCH GRAFT IS FOUND
State Liquor Monopoly is to Be Fully
Investigated.
HOW LIQUOR WAS PURCHASED
South Carolina Now Under Local
Option Law, and More Scandal
is Feared.
MUCH GRAFT IS FOUND
low LIQUOR WAS PURCHASED

bill in question announced briefly that the
South Carolina state dispensary, the gov
ernmental monopoly of the whisky traffic
introduced fourteen years ago by Gov. B.
r. Tillman, had been abolished. The sys-.
tenn, 1t was added, is to be succeeded by To-
cal option as between county dispensar1es
and prohibition. Last week. which was the
transition period, prohibition prevailed
throughout the state. By proclamation of
Gov Ansel the main state dispensary, with
a stock of $75O,000, eighty odd subdispen-
saries and sixty odd beer dispensaries were
closed.
The proclamation came unexpectedly, and
as there were private stocks in but few
homes, the dryness of the state is of a
kind not familiar in ordinary prohibition
communities. Not drug store in South
Carolina had a pint of whisky. and the
usual blind tigers were unprepared.
Under the local option law known as the
Carey-Cothran law, those counties in which
the state dispensaries had subdispensarles
will continue the sale of liquor until the
next general election. But the management
of the dispensaries will lie exclusively In
county board of three, one member being
chosen by the mayor or mayors of the town
or towns in the county in which dis
pensary is located, one selected by the
school board and one by the legislative dele
cation. This board is to take over what
ever liquor it wishes from the state dis
pensary and continue the business. The
county dispensaries have no capital and the
business. at least at the outset, must be
conducted wholly on credit. The profits are
divided between the municipality, the
county and the school fund.
Must Advertise for Bids.
When the county boards begin buying
new stock they are required to advertise
for bids for the grades and kinds of liquor
required. These bids are to be sent, sealed,
70 bo of no a
specified time opened in public by the
board and the contracts awarded. Every
quarter the board must publish in county
newspapers its purchases, with names OF
dealers, quantity and price. No liquor can
be bought from any dealer who maintains
an agency in this state or who solicits GUS
tom in any other manner than prescribed
by law.
Members of the county boards well as
the dispensers whom they appoint are
heavily bonded, and it is made a serious
offense for any official to receive present
of any character from a liquor agent or
dealer, or to push any particular brand
of goods in the dispensaries. 1t is hoped
by these precautions to eliminate most of
the opportunities for graft, the graft that
brought the state dispensary system into
such evil nOtoriety.
Dispensary Directors Removed.
A week before the abolition of the dis
pensary the governor, acting on the recon-
nenudtlOH VI Tie ieSlSidlule, WHICH, III
| turn acted on report of special commit
tee, removed from Office the board of dis
pensary directors. 1t was found by the
legislative committee that. while the stock
in the state dispensary was limited to o.OO,
0OO. the directors had on hand SIo0,ED
| worth of liquor, besides having large stocks
| in the subdispensaries. 1t was also ascer
| tanned that in the preceding six weeks
| the purchases amounted to S5JO.00O. Much
| of this was bought in violation of the law,
which provided that sealed bids be submit
| ted and the orders given without the di-
rectors knowing the names of bidders.
The legislative committee developed that
! one director visited distillers in Illinois and
made a purchase without bids being sub
| mtted of $4,000. An expert estimated
| that the state was overcharged from So
| coo to $4,000 on this one deal In view of
| this revelation all the directors were re-
moved and prosecution will probably follow,
as it was recommended by the legislature.
Perhaps S2J0,OOO is due by the state for
liquor recently purchased. This will not be
paid until investigation proves that dealers
were not in conspiracy with the directors
to overcharge for whisky and be able to
pay tremendous rebates as bonus for the
orders received.
System Beaten in Straight Fight.
The downfall of the dispensary is not due
to recent developments. The legislature
that overthrow it was elected after
stra light fight on the issue before the irregu-
larity and illegal conduct of the last board
was known. 1t. is the elimination of a
twelve years fight fight that was at one
time supported by not more than 10 per
cent of the people, and which was finally
sustained by 10 per cent.
For dozen years there has been more
or less general belief in and indefinite
charges of corruption in the dispensary.
AS a result of d year of legislative inveStl-
cation the board of directors that preceded
the one which has just been removed was
defeated for reelection by the general as
sembly and the governor ordered the at
torney general to prosecute, but the evil
dence of corruption was not of such char
acter that case could be legally founded.
Yet it is conceded that through a system
of permitting dealers to overcharge for
liquor, the difference being pocketed by dis
pensary officials in the form of rebates"
the state may have lost 100000 a year for
paid for one order for labels for whisky
bottles when several substantial establish
ments offered to duplicate the order for
less than $1O,OO
Tillman Led Dispensary Forces.
The last active and sustained fight for
and against the dspensary began thirty
months ago. To counteract the assaults
made on his baby as he designated it,
Senator TilIman came from Washington in
1905 and took the stump in its behalf. He
made twelve or thirteen speeches, but that
year would not cOnCeQe tnat the QlSpen-
sary was corrupt. The succeeding winter
the house of representatives passed bill
abolishing the dispensary. The senate kill
ed 1t and sent a bill to the house, which
Senator Tillman had helped to prepare,
providing for the publication of the inst-
tuition. This was killed by the house on the
ground that legislative efforts to purify
had been made for ten years and that con-
ditions had steadily grown worse.
Last year was campaign year in South
Carolina, and it was early made clear that
the dispensary would be the one issue. The
State, a newspaper at Columbia, was the
generally recognized leader of the opposi-
| ton. On April l Senator Tillman issued an
address to the people of South Carolina in
which he declared that he would take the
stump for the dispensary and warned them
that il his fight was not sustained they
| would be dominated "by ring with head
quarters in the State newspaper Office in
| Columbia" The senator made one of the
| most active and vigorous county to-county
| campaigns of his career Without opposi-
| ton to reelection he had no personal
| cares.
Tillman Candidates Badly Beaten.
The dispensary opponents discouraged
| antagonism to Tiilman, wishing to avoid
complications and considering the abolition
/