The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1907-01-31


ates Commissioner Tatum's charges
as to the overstock of the State dis
pensary and shows up, the general
laxness with which the institution IS
conducted. The report is signed by
all the members of the committee, Of
whom Messrs. Graydon and Richards
are dispensary supporters. MI
Richards said tonight that while he
agreed with the report, he would
say that it was not sufficiently
brought out that the dispensary was
in excellent financial condition. The
main features of the report are
given below:
That the State dispensary is over
stocked, and that there was on hand
in the State dispensary on January
Is, 1907, about six hundred and sixty
nine thousand dollars worth OF stock
That four hundred thousand dol
lars worth of stock is sufficient to-
run the State dispensary. We find
that this overstocking has been gos
ing on both under the old board afg.
directors and under the new beard
We further find that in the purss
chase Of liquors for the dispeIsarys
the law has not been observed IN 81.
number Of instances, and that liquors
have been bought contrary to, the
rule established by the board itself
for the purchase of liquor.
We find that Mr.. John Black, as
member of the board Of directors,
purchased a large amount of liquor.
amounting to about sixteen hundred
barrels, from Clark Brothers & Son.
of Peoria, His; said Black making
said purchase in person In Peoria,
Ill. We also find that at the same
time and place he made a purchase
from Lehman & Co., the amount ofA
which we have been unable to ascer
tain, but three hundred barrels lsweres
shipped to and received by the State
dispensary.. We also find that Mr.
Black made a purchase in person iIas
Cincinnati, Ohio, Of six hundreds
cases of liquor from Moyse Brothers
These three lots of liquor thus purs
chased by Mr.. Black amounted tOz
about one hundred and twenty-five
thousand dollars.
We find from the testimony that
the liquor thus purchased by Mr.
Black from Clark Brothers &Sons ct
$3.50 to $1.75 per gallon is avery in-
ferior quality Of liquor, beng what
is known as high wine, and is not
worth more than $1.33 to $1.35 per
gallon, and can be bought IN the
market at that price.
We find from the testimony that
the present board of directors has;
constantly substituted other goods
to be shipped out to the county dis
pensaries in place of the goods or
dered by the county dispensers, and
that the goods so substituted were
not satisfactory to the county dis
pensers, or to the people, and that
they were shipped over the protest
of the county dispensers and over the:
protest of the State Commissioners.
We further find that the board of
directors failed Or refused to buy IN
sufficient quantities, Z corn, 4 4gins
and K rye, although there was q big
demand for this class Of goods, and
frequent demands 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
examination that there are on file
many bids from other reputable
concerns offering to furnish these
goods.
We further find that the board Of
directors have purchased large guam.
titles of Objectionable case goods, ID
which there was a very large profit
to the sellers, in many instances over
a hundred per cent, but that they
failed or refused to purchase the
popular cheap goods in which the
profit to the sellers was very little.
We further find that a large part
of the overstock in the State dispen-
sary consists of case goods for which
there is little or no demand, and
which was bought over the protest
Of the commissioner and the county
dispensers.
We further find that there has
been paid on the Clark purchase the
sum Of $780, 600, and that the checks
were countersigned by Commissioner
Tatum, although he had been IN
formed of the facts concerning said
purchase.
We find that since the meeting Of
the General Assembly the board Of /
directors have adopted q resolution
that all orders for liquor must be
countersigned by Commissioners w.
0. Tatum.