Clarke courier. [volume] (Berryville, Va.) 1869-1997, 1907-03-27
What is the DiSpenSary?

Copy furnished by Berryville w.C.T.U)
DEAR Mr.. EDIroR
We certainly do not agree with you as
TO the Dispenssry-the very worst form
OF the liquor questisn. Give us saloons.
give US blind tigers, give US anything
else, but don't give US the Dispenssry.
We thank you for the privilege of Civ
ing our reasons for not liking the Dis
penssry, and we find them so well ex-
pressed in the accompanying extracts
from paper by Rev. James Cannon.
Jr., we kindly ask you to publish them:
In general terms the dispensary is a
place where intoxicating liquor is sold
IN packages containing not less than
half pint between the hours OF 600 A.
NJ, and 900 p. NJ the said liquor not 10
be drunk on the premises, and no LIQUOR
to be sold TO minors, or TO be sold on
Sunday. Wherein does this differ from
the saloony Ii is claimed as great ad-
vantage that social drinking is abolished,
and that as the dispensary is closed al
night the i'll effects of the sale OF liouor
are very largely minimized Suppose
we grant IL TO be true that there Is n o, as
much social drinking at the bar az here
tofore. we have still the que tion 10
determine, does this advantage claimed
for the dispensary outweigh the various
disadvantages, aye. the positive evils
which are associated with Il. What are.
the facts:
NO DECREASE IL SALE - LIQUoR
There is no decrease i'm the sac
liquor The es ablshmrn, of n tlisp-n-
sary in community in The place q ..lf
n dozen or more saloons does not mean
that from that time on the sale of Iiopor
will steadily decrease in that community
III the advocate of the dispensary could
point TO steady decrease in the sale ,,f
intoxicants wherever a dispe=sary has
been established, we might be able toun
derstand more easily their great enthu-
siasm for their modern Moloch l,ut.
alas, the statistics in the auditors office
show that with but one exception the
sale OF liquor has steadily increased az
all the dispensaries in the State, and tie
town councils and boards of supervisors
have even begun TO calculate the amount
of Increase in revenue to he expected
from the dispensary, when they are
making out their budget OF expenditures
for town and county improvement.
South Carolina had the dispensary for
many years, and the amount OF sales i'm
creased rapidly from year to year And
so il has been found To be i'm our own
State of Nirginia. There is Just As
much liquor sold in a community under
the dispensary system as under the bar
room system. What then becomes of
the argument that the dispensarv is an
advantage because IL DESTROYS social
drinkingy The liquor is bought; What
becomes of itg The truth of the matter
is that the diSpensar, does not destroy
social drinking. Ii simply transfers il
from the barroom TO the back rooms of
stores, TO offices, TO alley ways, and FIRE
quently TO homes. a man buys a pack
age and either calls on his fri, nds 10
help him drink IL up, or drinks so much
himself that he is in worse condition
than in the days of the saloon. The
| Va PNOR4C NhO i've sn the
country districts near the dispensaries
is very strong on that point Men buy
a package of liquor, and on their way
home open the bottle ano take a drink.
and presently, as the bottle is conven-
lent, another drink is taken, and then
another and by the time they reach home
the liquor is gone and the men are drunk.
DEADLY REsPECTABuLITY OF THE DTs-
PENsARY
II is the testimony Of reliable persons
from various communities that many
persons who are ashamed 10 be seen i'm
oar-rcom, and who never frequented
them. do not hesitate TO go To the dis
pensary and TO be seen inside the room
or outside the oor. The saloon had
rightly come under the ban of decent
society, and men did not like 10 have il
known that they frequented such place.
The dispensary is very different from
the saloon. Ii is under the control and
direction of men of prominence and re-
spectability In the community, and the
man who sells the liquor is also "A man
who is usually different type, outward
iy at east, from the regular bar keeper.
The directors of the dispensary go in
and out, see that the liquor is properly
bottled and labeled and priced, and their
association with the business and their
frequent presence at the place of sale
gives the whole business an air of re-
spectability which results in the en-
snarement and utter ruin of many men
who would never have freQuented a bar.
room. | know of one town in the State
which has dispensary, which sends
steady stream of its young men from its
most respectable families to the Keeley
and other cures for drunkenness. The
claim that the dispenssry decreases the
amonnt of liquor sold and the number If
drunkards made cannot be proven; and
indeed, have heard the claim rarely
advanced in neighborhoods where il has
been in existence for any considerable
length of time.
THEY WORSHIP REVENUE
Stripped of all its dis uises and sub
terfuges, the real and the potent argu-