The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1907-02-27

SmaI, put IL tAO o9SASo
amount due us for subscription is
-s,.fe ;e-~e-s,a We need the 'noney.
II is common street talk that a
number of United States revenue IL
censes have been issued to citizens Of
Sumter. It is up to the sheriff and
police to find out who hold these IL
-censes and then to keep them under
close surveillance. The man who pays
for license does so for one purpose
only. and that is to sell liquor. Bind
Steers have never been. given a free
hand in Sumter, and this is no time
10 let up on them. Respect for and
obedience to the law must be enforc-
ed at all times, and IN all clrcam-
stances. We claim to be a la,w-apld-
ing people and if we are to make
good this claim, we must obey the
law whether it is pecuniarily prodta-
sble or not. We do not subscribe to
the teaching, now popular in Charles
ton. that we must obey the new liquor
law because it is profitable to do so.
We stand where we have always
stood, for obedience to law because
it is the law, to which all good citi-
zens owe obedience and respect.
Sheriff Epperson has received or
ders from Gov. Ansel in reference to
the strict enforcement of the dispen-
sary law under the new Carey-coth-
ran law. The city authorities have
also received similar instructions. The
sumter police have for years done
their fuE duty in enforcing the law
ana viii continue to discharge their
tsuty in this respect under the new
szaw. Whiie there mas always been
and always VIII continue to be
more or less liquor sold illicit.
sly, Sumter has never been a pro-
ftab:e field Of operation for siiad Il
gers and It VIII not be In the future.
s.rrssais city is q iaw-asdding comnsanity
and the city authorities have never
shirked their daty IN the enforcement
of the oispensary law and have al
ways co-operated with the dispensary
constabulary. In Sumter it has been
a matter Of respect for the law Of the
State and not q question Of local pro-
fit or fayoritism fer the blind tiger
element, as has been the case in GER
tain other communities. Therefore 1t
is safe to hazard the prediction that
the Carey-Cothran law will be better
enforced. in Sumter than it will in
towns that clamored for the abolition
of the State dispensary and the enact
ment Of the Carey-Cothran law.
A movement that is meeting with
the utmost success was started this
morning to raise a fund by popular
subscription to erect a monument to
Mr.. w. S. Graham, whose sad and
tragis death is recorded else
where in this paper. Everybody
who has had an opportunity to sub
scribe has contributed literally, and
the fund already amounts to several
hundred dollars. The people Of
Sumter seem not only willing, but
eager to do something to pay trib-
ute of respect to the memory of
Will Graham.
When the new county board Of con-
troll shall have been organized and
takes charge Of the dispensary we
hope that it will adopt rule to sell
no wh;skey for less than 25 cents a
half pint. It is stated by men, who
know what whiskey is, that
pure wniskey Of good quality
cannot be sold for les price,
and this being true the dispen-
sary should rot rcsard the dispen-
sary as a money u King machine pri-
rnarliy. It should b. 50 administered
as TO curtail the use OF liquor TO as
great a degree as possible and to min
imize the evils attendant upon the use
of liquor as a beverage. This can be
accomplished we believe by selling
pure liquors. The people who con-
sumo the bulk of the cheaper grades
of whiskey buy and drink all that
they can find the money to purchase
and if they were forced to drink bet
ter whiskey they would be 10 worse
off financially and far better of physi-
cally as result of the curtailment o'