The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1907-10-30
WHISKEY FIGHT.
The Present Liquor Law Will Not
Be Changed at
THE next SESSION

OF the Legislature Is the Opinion of
Many Members Of the General As
sembly Who Have Been Interview
ed on the Subject. State and Coun-
ty Dspensary Advocates VIII Stand
Together 1t Is Thought.
A letter from Columbia to the
Florence Times says the most abb
sorbing political topic in this state
just at this time Isl whether the COM
ing legislature will abolish the coun-
ty dispensary system and vote the
State dry throughout. Now the be-
lief seems to prevail generally over
the state that the legislature succeeds
this will enact a state prohibition
law, but talks your correspondent
has had with many members Of the
legislature and with local political
Ileadrs from many sections Of the
state visiting Columbia confirms the
opinion held by many close observers
that the present legislature will, with
Gov. Ansel, support the present law.
1t is recognized that there are
many small defects In the present
county option law, and it. is likely
that Gov. Ansel will recommend a
number Of changes to cure this, but
it seems almost certain that the sys-
tenn as a whole will be continued.
There is no doubt that the pro-
hibitionists will make a determined
fight to wipe out the county option
system, and there are indications that
they feel hopeful Of winning. But
they know that in order to win they
must have the support Of the old
state ~dispensary adherents. That
some of the ~dispensary people will
vote with them there Is NO reason to
doubt. Among other dispensary
leaders John G. Richards has an
nounced his intention Of joining the
prohibitionists.
There is no way. OF telling accu-
rately haw many of the state dispen-
sary members will vote with the pro-
hibitionists but there is good reason
to believe that a majority of them
will vote to sustain the county op-
ton scheme.
Two Of the most influential and
able men in the. present legislature
Senator LeGrand Walker of George
town and chairman of the house,
ways and means committee, ]. A.
Banks, of Orangeburg, state dispen-
sary leaders, have recently expressed
themselves as determined to support
the county system next spring.
Mr.. R. H. Welsh, who as the law.
partner of ex%-attorney General Bel
Finger, has been in close touch with
the state ~dispensary faction through
the litigation that has been waged
over the subject the past few years,
and who had been making frequent
trips to various parts of the state
in %futherance of this litigation, Is
among those who are confidently of
the opinion that the county system
will not be abolished next Spring.
"The prohibitionists are relying on
the State ~dispensary people to help
them carry prohibition, said Mr..
Weslh, "but in my judgment they
are going to wake sadly mistaken
when the vote Is taken. I have talk
ed to a large number Of State dtspen-
sary people, members Of the legisla-
ture, and I think I am safe in saying
that they will almost without ex-
ception vote with the county dis
pensary advocates next spring, which
is the logical thing to expect of
them.
They do not believe the whole
state is ripe for prohibition and es-
pecially are they against enacting such
a law without machinery to enforce
it. They lined up with the prohibit
tionists generally last session but
that was due partly to pique and
part to a desire to choke off the
county dispensary people.
In my Judgment the prohibitionists
lost their last chance to get prohibi-
ton last session, so far as the pre-
sent Legislature is concerned, when
they refused to join forces with the
state d%ispensary people. The talk
at that time about fear of the dispen-
sary people throwing down the pro-
hibitionists in the Senate and thus
continuing the state dispensary sys-
TEN was all bosh.
The prohibitionists had an easy
victory in their hands If they had had
Judgment enough to use it. The State
dspensary people will not vote with
them again as a whole and in opin-
ion prohibition will be defeated in
the legislature next spring by a big
ger majority than for years.
Now that the fight between the
State dispensary advocates and those
~favoring the county system is over
and the county advocates have won,
the State dispensary people in the
course of a year have been able to
get rid of the smarting of defeat, and
they are going to line up with the
county option people almost to a
man simply because they believe that
the county system is much wiser at
this time than prohibition, although
many of the State dispensary advo--