The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1908-10-21
For Industry's Sake.

Court has decided to allow the dispen-
| 5ary election to be held 1t is now
mp to those who have the interests of
| Laurens county and it's citizens at
heart, to get busy" and have the
| curse removed from us, by voting the
| dispensary out.
Some OF our best citizens. we are
| told, are opposed to voting ii out be-
cause it takes away from them their
| personal rights, but the law prohibits
| the sale Of other poiSons, which. while
| beneficial if used in proper quantities,
are dangerous when taken in excess
i've doses. So why not put on the list
| whiskey, the most recklcssly used
| poison.
| Others of our best citizens. whom
the good Lord has blessed with more
| than the average amount of worldly
goods, favor the dispensary, we arc
| told, because its voting out would
cause an increase in the school tax
levy, and an increase i'm the taxes
| they are called upon to pay. But if
| they would pause to consider that
most Of the money spent in the dis
| pensary is taken from the bread and
| the clothing that should go to the
| women and the little ones at home.
would they not be willing to pay the
very slight increase that would fall
| upon each one? In my position as
| superintendent of cotton mill en-
| MI
and children, have better opportun-
| ity to observe the demoralizing and
| degrading effects of this traffic upon
| our people-our white people-than
| have many of your readers, and feel
sure that no one evil so vitality con-
Germs us all as does this liquor traffic.
| Many families in my own experience
are driven away and kept away from
our mill because the wife and mother
| will not live in Laurens. where liquor.
| so easily procured. is the curse and
undoing of husband or sons or both.
Many men who work for us, and who
really struggle against desire. yield
| upon occasion to the tempting of the
ever present bottle, and a debauch of
| several days Will follow. during which
money needed for bread and clothing
for little ones is poured into the
| school fund through the diSDenSarv.
| only few weeks ago a man from our
mill-one whose friendship | had had
for many years, gradually become an
abject slave to drink, killed himself
IN our city prison. He struggled
hard at times to escape from the tolls.
| but finding resistance in liquors CON
stant presence impossible, he finally
! put an end to a life which had become
but trial to himself and others, and
which he could not call his own.
| Frequently boys in our settlement
| who are not over 10 or l6 years of age
| are seen intoxicated. and only recently
two boys still in knee trousers. pro-
cured liquor from the dspcnsary and
brought it into our mill during work
4 hours.
| AT another time, one OF the girls in
the mill was noticed acting uueerly,
and upon investigation we found that
/ '' ''''' D'SShi'' lIuuOi from lIlt
dispensary and some Of the young
] girls in the mill had drunk il. think
| ing it quite a lark
1t is useless further to bring up ex-
amples due to q condition which can
but lead to degradation and woe.
This is II plea to save. not the ne
gro but our own white people-you
me, our friends. our ncighbors, our
boys. our girlS-from temptations and
by our votes, to start us out on the
road which leads away from the dis
pensary and up to a higher and bet
ter civilization.
If all the women would study their
own interests and their families in
terestS, plead with their husbands
their sons, their fathers and> their
brothers until November 3rd. and then
II necessary, go with them to the
| polls and see Their votes cast, we
| should see the dispcnSaly cast out bv
a vote of which Laurens county would
| always be proud
viii they do IL!
a. c. Haskell. Jr.