The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1907-01-30

about. We examined no one but Of
fcers and employees. We have had
all the testimony taken in the inves-
tigation printed for the use Of the
members OF the general assembly and
transmit the same herewith. We have
refrained from making recommends
tions, preferring to leave it to your
honorable body to say what action
you desire to take on our report,
without any suggestion from your
committee, contenting ourselves SIM
ply with the findings of fact which
we think the evidence demands.
We find as matters Of fact:
1. That the State dispensary is
overstocked, and that there was ~on
hand in the State dispensary on jan
uary Is, 1907, about s669,000 worth
of stock.
2. That 100000 worth of stock
is sufficient to run the State dispen-
sary. We find that this overstocking
has been going on both under the old
board of directors and under the new
board.
8. We further find that in the pur-
chase of liquors for the dispensary,
the law has not been observed in
number of instances, and that liquors
have been bought contrary to the rule
established by the board itself for the
purchase Of liquor.
f. We find that the present board
of directors passed a rule on or about
the 9Th day Of March, 1906, that all
orders for the purchase Of liquors
must be signed by at least two mem
bers of the board Of directors, but
said order was subsequently modified
so as to allow the clerk Of the board
to order the bulk goods.
5. We find that Mr.. John Black,
member Of the board Of directors,
purchased a large amount of liquor,
amounting to about 1000 barrels,
from Clark Bros. & Sons of Peoria,
I'LL, said Black making said purchase
in person in Peoria, III. We also find
that at the same time and place he
made purchase from Lehman & Co.,
the amount Of which we have been
unable to ascertain, but 800 barrels
were shipped to and received by the
State dispensary. We also find that
Mr. Black made a purchase in person
in Cincinnati, Ohio, Of 900 cases Of
lots of liquor thus purchased by Mr..
Black amounted to about s125,000.
s. We find from the testimony that
the liquor thus purchased by Mr..
Black from Clark Bros. & Sons, at
s1.50 to s1.75 per gallon, is very in
ferior quality of liquor, being what is
known as high wine, and is not worth
more than S1.33 to S1.35 cents per
gallon, and can be bought in the mar
ket at that price.
Z. We find from the testimony
that Mr.. Black is out Of the State,
and we are informed that he is sick,
and hence it was impossible for the
committee to get his testimony, but
a letter Of his IN relation to said
Clark and Lehman purchases is in
evidence, and your attention is call
ed to the statement therein contain
ed.
8. We find from the testimony that
the present board Of directors has
constantly substituted other goods to
be shipped out to the county dispen-
saries, in place of the goods ordered
by the county dispensers, and that
the goods so substituted were not sat-
isfactory to the county dispensers, or
to the people, and that they were
shipped over the protest Of the county
dispensers, and over the protest of the
State commissioner.
9. We further find that the board
of directors failed or refused to buy
in sufficient quantities K corn, x gin
and x rye, although there was a big
demand for this class Of goods, and
frequent requests made to the board
to order that class Of goods, and that
the board claims that certain firms
refused to ship out this class Of goods
when ordered, but we find on exami-
nation that there are on file many
bids from other reputable firms Of
fering to furnish these goods.
10. We further find that the board
OF directors have purchased large
quantities Of Objectionable case goods,
in which there was a very large prof1t
to the sellers, in many instances over
100 per cent, but that they failed or
refused to purchase the popular cheap
goods, in which the profit to the
sellers was very little.
Ii. We further find that large
part of the overstock in the State
dispensary consists of case goods for
which there is little or no demand,
and which was bought over the pro-
test Of the commissioner and the
county dispensers.
-. We further find that there has
been paid on the Clark purchase the
sum Of 10000, and that the checks
for sane were countersigned by Com
missioner Tatum, although he had
been informed Of the facts concern
ing said purchase.
13. We find that since the meeting
of the general assembly, the board OF
directors has adopted resolution
that all orders for liquor must be
countersigned by Commissioner Ia
tum.
IA. In addition to the stock on
hand, we find that all Of the Decem-
Der purchases have been ordered held
up by the board-that is, orders is
sued not to ship the goods-except
the Clark and Lehman purchases,
which were held up Dy Mr.. M. H.
o1o.1, cotton was CON-