Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-08-02
NOW HALF AND HALF.
But South Carolina to Vote on
Statewide Dryness.
AN ELECTION TOMORROW
Wet Counties in the Throes of a
Contest
STRATEGY OF THE "PROHIBS"
Attorney General Shuts OF Grog
Pending Determination of Re
suit at the Polls.
STRATEGY OF THE "PRoHIBs'

| COLUMBIA. s. c. August 2-Tomor-
row. South Carolina will be added to
| the fold of statewide prohibition terri
tory, which now embraces well nigh all
of the southeastern states However the
drouth in this state is to be temporary
| unless the voters in the twenty-one wet
counties that are to hold local option
elections Tuesday August Il, declare for
perpetual dryness.
Due to the strategy of the prohibition
lists in the South Carolina legislature. the
drys have all to gain and nothing to
lose in the approaching contests. Liter
ally this state is half and half twenty
| one counties being already in the prohi-
bition camp and exactly the same num-
| Der being officially engaged in the sale
of intoxcants under what Is known as
the county dispensary system
The law enacted at the last session of
the legislature took no account of the
territory already dry providing only for
elections IN the wet counties 20 determine
whether they should remain wet or join
| their sisters of the white ribbon camp.
Further, that the folk in the dispensary
counties might have taste Of prohbi-
prohlbitionists had it provided that all
dlspenSaries shall close two weeks before
| the elections and remain closed until the
result OF the elections is known.
Month Without Grog.
A howl went up from the vets when
Attorney General Lyon delivered an opin-
| ion to the effect that the results Of the
election would not be known" until Of
Totally declared by the state board of
convassers. which means that county
grog shops will be closed for at least
| month. AS Gov. Ansel has concurred in
this opinion, it stands. and any attempt
off1cially declared would unquestionably
mean the dismissal from Office of the
offending dispensary commissioners
In the elections each county votes as
unit. and it is admitted that a number
of them will set the seal OF disapproval
upon the sale Of intoxicants within its
| borders. Richland in which Columbia is
situated, and Charleston are among the
counties which will participate in the
elections.
outgrowth of State System.
The county dispensary is the outgrowth
of the late state dispensary system of
which Gov. Tillman, now United States
senator, was the accredited daddy and
which was wrecked on the rocks of po-
litical strife and internal corruption Aft
er thirteen perilous years at one time Gull
minating in a riot, with resultant blood
shed and calling forth from the then Gov
Tillman proclamation Of martial law
and the mobil!Zing in Darlington, Column
bia and other points of such Of the state
troops, as did not lay down their arms
and colOrs when summoned to enforce
with bayonet and shell law which was
repugnant to them. and later seeing rebel
lfous hCarleston patr0lled by state police
in fruitless effort by Tillman's successor
as governor to enforce the unpopular state
in fh0 y,.Ifo
state. and followed in succeeding years
by the Staying of perhaps a dozen c,ti-
| zens by armed state cOnstabies and the
killing Of number of these same OFF,
two years ago killed by a small ma jority
in the legislature after one Of the stormi-
est sessions in it's history.
Officials Out on Bond.
A half dozen of the officials of the state
dispensary. charged with accepting thou
| sands of dollars in rebates from whisky
| houses, are now at liberty on bonds rang
ing from $4,000 to $4,000.
| Since the inauguration of the county
dispensary system there have been no
charges of corruption.
Under County Board.
Differing from saloons. the dispensarles
are operated under control Of a county
board. The bartender is known as a dis
penser and is bonded; there are no
screens in the dispensaries: fntoxicants
are sold only in original packages. rang
ing from half pints to three-gallon demf-
johns. and there is no drinking on the
premises: the dispensary is opened at sun
rise and closed at shutdown, the pur-
chaser is required to sign a request
blank for each purchase. in which he
must give his age and address: minors
and drunkards are not allowed to make
purchases, and whatever is sold in the dis
pensaries is required to be chemically
pure.
| The sales Of the dspensaries in the
twenty-one wet counties of the state ap-
pruximate S3,O0O.OOO annually with net
profits to the counties of approximately
100000. The loss of this revenue is the
principal argument urged by the anti
prohibitionists In the hope Of defeating
| the effort now being made to vote ont the