The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-03-21
That Is Proved in Inter
 views.
 Gn.se~- TAXES WHISKEY AWAY AND MANS NERVE GONE Therefore, Touches Are Fewer Than Wet Days. Country About wetumpka Repeat Story of Benefits to Negro Farm Hands-Dispensary Made
 Town Good Profits.
BY CHARLES L. HAROLD.

wetumpka March 20.-(Special)- Prohibition has been put to new use in this county. It saves money Tor the sober set. Many skeptics were Wiling to admit that 1t is d money saver to the tippler. It reduces the expenses e the social habit. !n many ways II cuts out such practices altogether.
 One politician here is denSnteo over the new order of things.
 Whats the matter with you, ne was asked You are more enthusias- tic than any one seen yet"
 Tt saves us touches, man., he eX- plaiued eagerly. why, when things were really wet here living was high. Now we run into much fewer touches I say, hail prohibition
 Further pursuit of the enthusiastic found potent result of prohibition It disclosed a feature of dry that the real temperance advocates had over looked.
 You see, it is this way" began the coming candidate. About every other day I sat in the courthouse here hold ing down my job and I could see the familiar faces of the crossroads walk He was in olden times decorated with smiles about his face and jag all over. On these occasions I knew 1t was always a jolt for the wallet. l reched down when l saw him coming. He was always handy with nice tale about the folks at home. Then. being in a hurry to purchase some goods before driving home he pitched right into the touch gag. It was dig in the jeans for fifty cents or dollar. And so it was all down the line.
 "when he left another of the touch club came around. I tell you those were expensive days. Me for dry.
 The over-joyed office-holder was asked how prohibition was saving the touches.
 "why, it's easy" he said. "They haven't the nerve for the task now. They usually accumulated enough load to approach me out of the money that they came to town with. Now, they cannot get the booze and the nerve has gone away. They simply leave off the touches, mainly speak ing, and tell you I'm glad Of 1t.
 Dispensary System.
 Many others felt that way. The dispensary which held forth here for about eight years made many friends of A sort But it is reasonably certain that if the county had gone to vote on the question of wet or dry the county would have wiped out whiskey. There would not have been enough left to moisten a mouse's brain. The couu- LTY NIOlk were blOIc Ol ACoo mug L1hl about the dispensary, so some of the townspeople say. or at least they were until the city consented to divide the profits with the county treasury
 The dispensary was making profits of about $15,000 annually when stopped by Statewide. By an act of the Leg islature passed at the regular session of 1907 the city was authorized to give to the county school fund one half Of the of diSnnn. sary. It was conducted on the plan of the Athens and other dispensaries that were established under the, terms of the Moody act of the Legislature of 1900-01. That is to say. three men were annually nominated by the coun- ty commissioners for the office of dis penser and from this list the city council chose the official. The dis penser had authority to order the dis pensary goods and was subject to the supervision of a dispensary commit tee of council. It was said that the institution was run on a buAness-lil< basis
 It is the estimate of Mayor F. B McCaskey that gross sales amounted annually to about $45. .0O0 or s50.OOO That is considered a hustling business Tor town of the size of Wetumpka. The profits were on the average of 3o or 33 1-3 per cent
 The farmers all testified to one thing. that was the refrain of satis faction that ran all through the rural sections The negro has been won derfully benefited If, therefore, the negro farmer hand has been blessed the owner of the land on which he works has been correspondinglv blessed. One of the farmers interviewed said. "I consider prohibition with us the second greatest political blessing since The war made the negro free. The first was disfranchisement."
 Some Benefits.
 Continuing discussion, one farmer said: "If I had occasion when the dispensary was running here to send a wagon to town for trade, I had 10 put in charge my best and must trust worthy men. And even then I was on the anxious seat about his returning safe and sober. Now I do not hesi- tate to send some of my negroes 10 town. If they get whiskty I see no evidence of 1t. They always come home sober and they show an tncli- nation to work more than they used to. Also, I do not have to advance as much money as I used to. They are doing better with their wages
 Evidence was also gained of The improved conduct of the negro on the