The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-06-30

sary method of regulating the liquor | traffic will be continued in twenty-one | of the forty-two counties of South Car olina, but the State will go out or the liquor business for itself, leaving to Its civil subdivisions the field which 1t entered sixteen years ago. The people of the Palmetto State, just prior l to tho assembling of the State Leg | islature for the session at which the l dispensary law was enacted In 1893, voted to abolish the sale of liquor. and 1t was thought that law to ef- l fectuate the will of the people would be enacted. They were given the dis pensary instead of prohibition, although the lower House of the Legislature passed prohibition bill by a large majority. -4e
 From the time of the enactment of the State dfspensary law the system. or some phase of 1t, has been prin- cipal issue in every election In South Carolina. One of the chief concerns of every Legislature has bec~ to cor- rect some of the evils of the Great Moral Institution as the advocates of the system termed the dfspensary. This term, as used by enemies or the dis pensary, degenerated in the vernacular into the "G. M. T." The people have never voted directly upon the question of dispensary or no dispensary. There
  sition to the dispensary method of selling liquor, as applied in the coun. ties. The chief objection has been to the central dispensary, from which all the dispensaries in the State were sup piled with liquor.
 Counties, and other subdivisions have always had the right to say, un- der the dispensary law, whether liquor should be sold within their bounds. If they voted to permit the sale 1t had to be sold at dispensaries, which must be supplied from the central dispen- sary at Columbia, at a profit of 10 per cent. to the State. This profit, by the way went into the school fund. Most of the towns and counties applied to schools and local Improvements the profits derived from the liquor traffic.
 The control of the State dispensary was vested in a board of directors and a commissioner, the latter the highest salaried officer of the State Govern- ment. He managed a business valued at S3,00o,000 a year. The commission CT and board of directors were chosen by the Legislature. Each county dis, pensary was in charge of dispenser, appointed by a board of control, cre- ated for the county management or the institution. Enforcement Of the dispensary law was vested In con stabulary, under the orders or the Governor of the State. This feature or the law produced most intense oppo- sition, especially in the cities and towns. The constables were empow- cred to search residences suspected or containing contraband liquor. and the exercise of this power occasioned riots and bloodshed in various parts or the State.
 The so-called police" features of the system, and these continue to ex-
 rtf fnfG m. deed. they appear to appeal to the great majority of order-loving citi- zens. Dispensers must sell liquor in unopened packages of not less than half a pint in the case of whfskey, and in the case of beer, not less than a pint nor more than five gallons. NO liuuor must be drunk or opened on the premises where sold, and no ioiterins in dispensaries is allowed. All dispen- saries must stay closed from sunset 10 sunrise, and must be kept closed on Sundays, State and National holidays, and on election days, including days on which primary elections are held No liquor Is allowed to be sold to mi- nors, to intoxicated persons. or to those who are in the habit of becoms ing intoxicated. The person desiring to purchase liquor must Ill out an application blank, setting forth the purpose for which the liquor Is to be purcha sed, and the amount desired and sign his name and address. l4 the applicant is not personally known to the dispenser as a reliable and trustworthy person of good character and habits" the dispenser must state that he is not a minor nor an habttual drunkard.
 Ii Is admitted that there is consid- erable laxity in the enforcement or these provisions of the law, especially the one requiring written application and identification of the applicant. It s generally understood that the dis penser desires to have his sales as large as possible, since his compensation Is regulated by the amount he sells. IL is believed by advocates of the sys- tenn that the elimination of this req ture would greatly improve the law. Charges of corruption in the manage ment of the State dispensary were made, and, apparently, were sustained. The trade" feature appears to have been made rather too prominent by somebody.
 But it is admitted by some of the most pronounced opponents Of the sys- tenn that it has not had fair trial in South Carolina, either as trade en- terprise, a police regulation or tenn perance measure. The overwhelming majority of the people of the towns in which the dispensaries were located were bitterly opposed to Governor, now Senator, Til nan, and consequent ly opposed to the dispensary, which he fathered. On the other hand, his friends shouted for the system. with out regard to its merits. South Car olinians, now that much of the heat of those earlier days has passed, ad- init this, and that the dispensary has not been fairly tested.
 Virginia has the dispensary in oper- ation in nine counties and twelve towns, and has had some of them for years. It Is said that no Virginia town has ever abandoned the dispen- sary system once it was adopted. North Carolina and Georgia, both of which had the system before adopting abso- lute prohibition are said to have had very similar experience with the dis pensary. The fact should not be over looked that the dispensary is adopted in every case as a compromise between temperance workers and the liquor people The Supreme Court of South Carolina declared the dispensary law unconstitutional, but the court was changed not long afterwards and the dispensary law was declared valid. The question of the validity of the law does not appear to havd been rais- ed in any other State.
 Civil war actually threatened to break out in South Carolina on &C., the dispensary constabulary came into collision with the opponents of the system Several citizens were slain by constables. The Governor pardoned more than one officer convicted of mur- lar I'm hxr tnIn