Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-03-15
GRAFT WAS TOO GREAT
Forced Collapse of the Dis
pensary System.
HUGE OVERCHARGES MADE
Attorney General Lyons Tells of the
Exposures.
BLAMES JUDGE PRITCHARD
Says That South Carolina Officials
Are Handicapped in the Trial
of Criminals.
BLAMES JUDGE PRITCHARD
BY WILLIAM r. CURTIS.
Special Correspondence of The star and the
Chicago Record Herald.

BY WILLIAM r. CURTIS.
Special Correspondence of The star and the
Chicago Record Herald.
COLUMBIA. S. c.. March 6. 1905
The state of South Carolina has gone
out Of the whisky business and Senator
Tilmans hobby. the dispensary. has col
lapsed. leaving punsent odor of cor
rUption. bribery and graft. which has long
been suspected. but is now being exposed
by exhibiting the books. which show that
the state has been paying from p too
per cent more for liquor than the cata-
logue prices. For example. ordinary
whisky which costs IS case at any
grocery. has been billed to the state at ST..
ST. Julien claret worth 81 a case, at S6.1J;
Bass ale usually sold COR SI.6I a dozen,
has been billed at s.: bottled cocktails
have cost the people of South Carolina
$500 when they were advertised at $3.50.
and on. In the settlement of accounts
the dealers have almost invariably sub
| mitted to a reduction, and several of them
have frankly explained that the excess
was required for commissions to politi-
clans who secured them the trade.
| These exposures have been made by Mr..
J. Fraser Lyon. the attorney general of
tie SIdle 'Sleu DN SOl TcluSl, d lcdo-
ing attorney of Atlanta. who has gone
over the dispensary accounts carefully
with experts and has compared every
purchase for several years with the mar
ket price of that particular .orm of wet
groceries on the day it was bought. The
| overcharges have been regular and sys-
tematic. and it is believed that they have
been divided among the members of the
'plunderbund as the organization is
called
Era 10 in,
Abbeville county when he was elected to
the legislature. He was a supporter of
Senator Tilman, and a believer in the dis
pensary system until he was appointed
member of a committee of the legislature
TO investigate it's operations and manage
ment. With Senator CiIristiapsen of Beau
fort county. he soon discovered evidences
of fraud and rottenneSs. and from that
| time they searched the records most dill
gently. Because o. the reputation he made
in this investigation the anti-dispensary,
anti-Tillman faction of the democratic
party elected him attorney general in
1905, although the senator fought him
tiercely. Since then Lyon has spent most
of his time in uncoverng dispensary
frauds. and promises to send the men who
are guilty of them to the penitentiary.
Rise of the Dispensary.
The dispensary idea was suggested to
Mr. Tillman when he was governor of
paper man, who came to Columbia from
| athens, Ga. to edit the Register said
Mr.. Lyon this morning Just at that time
Tllman was caught in a crisis. The
| people of the state We're bound to have
| prohibition and he was opposed to it,
| CAN'T told him about the Gutenberg sys-
tenn of municipal dispensaries in Sweden
which had been tried with some success
at Athens. Ga, and Tillman seized upon
the suggestion as d substitute for prohi-
| bition.
THE business was started. in 1898 con-
tinued Mr.. Lyon, when the legislature
passed an act prohibiting liquor selling
by individuals. closing all saloons and
wholesale houses and offering purchasers
the privilege of buying what wines, beers
and other liquors they wanted from state
agencies called diSpensaries An appro-
prlatlon of SJO.OOO was made for working
capital, and board consisting of the
governor. secretary of state and attorney
general was authorized to spend that
amount for a stock of beer. wine and
whisky to be distributed from a central
dispensary in Columbia and local dis
penSarles in different parts of the state
l1llman was governor and was the dom-
mating member of the board He went
personally to Cincinnati Chicago ST
Louis and Peoria and bought stock of
goods according to his own Judgment
Neither lie nor any one else on the board
lldu cNcI DeeIl III the liquor business
knew anything about it. but they went
ahead just the same. They closed I'D all
the barroOmS and saloons throughout
South Carolina, except i'm Charleston
where the liquor dealers never went out
of business. and continued to sell openIy
There were blind tigers everywhere 1t
was impossible to prevent people from
peddling liquor on the sly. although the
constables acted with vigilance and
energy. In Darlington county one OF
a nd
riot which has since been called the
Darlington war Tlllman proclaimed
martial law. ordered out the militia, SELF
ed the railways and telegraph lines and
caused general disturbance throughout
the state"
Has South Carolina ever voted for
Prohibition"
Certainly replied Mr. Lyon You
VIII ma that article viii section II of the
constitution of 1896, declares that the
general assembly has the right to pro-
hlblt the manufacture and sale of liquor
ana other beverages 1t may license any
person to sell under such rules and re-
SlrlctlonS as 1t may adopt; or it may
authorize state. county, and municipal Off
Gals TO retail liquor and other beverages
IN such quantities and packages as may
DC deemed eXpedient; but there is a
proElSo that liquor shall not be sold in
packages of less than half a pint: that
1t shall not be consumed on the premises
and that none shall be sold between sun
down and sunrise. That is the basis
of Our liquor law.
Effect of Dispensary System.
What was the moral effect of the dis
penSary SYSTEM
1T was an improvement on the old II,
cense system. There was less drinking
especially among casual drinkers who
would not take the trouble to go to :,
dispensary and buy bottle to take away
with them. but it did not reform the lower
classes for whom it was chiefly intended
On the contrary, negroes would save IN
money and club together to buy a; hottie
of liquor. when. under ordinary circum
stances. they might have limited them
selves to IA single drink and they snent
more for liquor than they did before
There was no decrease in crime or law
lessness generally. but perhaps the an
thorities in the cities had less trouble
with petty offenders.
What was the effect on the revenues
asked.
1T was a money making enterprise for
the state and for the local communities
The state derived an income of about
$4,000 a year from the profits of the
central dispensary. and the school fund
and the general funds of the counties en-
joyed All income of from 5000 900 to $500.