The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-03-25
Prohibition Is Making /,
 Negro Better Farmer

and other Improvements made out of the profits of the dispensary.
 Do Not Want Dispensary.
 The dispersary had done enough to make friends, and many of them. in this town. Some of them stick by 1t to this day. Yet it Is safe to say that ., test vote would hold the status quo. notwithstanding the es.000 and S10,0oo annually in pronts attracted many prohibition lmeans an extra tax or at least an inconvenience to maintain the city government; though many more streets and many more sidewalks could have been built, yet you could hardly re-establish the dispensary in Union Springs. It might not be done If even the vote was taken alone in the town. the corporate limits with an over wheiming majority against the instftu- tton.,g
 It is mostly due to the negro. He is large economic factor in Bullock County just like he Is in Marengo. 'n Dallas, in Perry and other sections of the Black Belt. So far he is better farm hand and . better customer. True, some merchants here declare they sec no improvement in the negro from either . money or moral standpoint. They say he still gets his whiskey and he is stiu improvident. But 1t is not what the average merchant says. He can see that improvement in. the con- duct of the black hand that was testi- lied to elsewhere in the rural commu- nities- And certainly as he was the chief patron of the dispensary the sud- den demise of that resort has deprived him of booze. Some are getting 1t by the express route. But the consump- tion by the negro is far less than De- fore prohibition came, this being Jan uary l. 1908.
 There are many in Union Springs who are otherwise friends of prohibi- ton, but who thought it unjust to knock out the dispensary here when 1t was allowed in other towns sur rounding. They say that 1t was un- wise to kill the dispensary here when 1t was allowed to run, another year, that Is. until Statewide. in such towns as Tuskegee, Troy and Eufaula. Mer. chants tell of actual loss of trade on account of this condition.
 Said a banker on this point: T do not think the prohibitionists made any friends by this haste in the matter Of the Union Springs dispensary. By the local option act of the regular session of the last Legislature we understood that our, dispensary was to stand un- disturbed for two years. Places where
 
 for . change to dry, but the dispensa- ries were exempted. Local option. too. was the Democratic platform.
 "Now, the next thing we knew, the Governors call for an extra session contained the proposition to abolish the dispensary here. And the Legisla- ture did by special act put out the dis pensary here one year before 1t was put out fin the other towns. It took Q mn ThaYa fQ dAnht about that"
 Some Tigers Running.
 As for the enforcement of the pro- hibition law in Bullock county. the conditions are fairly encouraging. Sheriff J. c. Carmichael admits that some tigers are running but they can- not be touched. There has been no conviction in the circuit or county court. There has been but one convic- tion in the mayors court Drunkenness has been largely reduced in the city. Saturdays are more pleasant than they used to be. It is attributed to less whiskey. Yet. to illustrate that some intoxicants are being sold or received here, the sheriff pointed to his docket as showing that five men have been im- prisoned this month for drunkenness. Two of these were guilty of drink ing connections which were worse than WnlBkeys Iuey OUcycu tHc law but they got hold of and drank something that is regarded as more deleterious than the bottled in bond And they do not claim to be blind ti- gers. either. who sold 1t.
 Just another word about the dis pensary. Aside from the moral and constitutional grounds, one merchant who plays with figures every day. at- tacks the dispensary in the same way that the mayor of Athens talked. Sup posing that $10.00o annually Is netted from its operation the wholesale deal sS outside the county and State gets s30.OO0. To make $10,000, therefore 1t is necessary to spend $30.00o. While the smaller sum goes into the city treasury as revenue there has been lost to the community S20.000.
 ''Now," insists the merchant, "does anyone believe we are sending away as much as e2o.0 900 a year for whis- key? If we are not sending that much for booze to come by express, then we are better of by that difference"
 Then, to illustrate the variety of opinions here, the merchant next door went on to say: "Yes, 1t may be we are not spending s20.00o for whiskey. But we are spending a good sum for It. Anu if we are to continue to have paved streets and better schools there Is bound to be an additional tax. Now. who's going to pay that tax? It will be the property owner who already pays a heavy enough rate. and that is why I say the dispensary was a good thing: it collected a tax from the