The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-08-06

in operation, exclusive of those in con- nection with tourist hotels. the state dis pensary at Columbia and a brewery sell ing under state protection. As a business venture, the dispensaries had fallen far below expectations
 At the end of the first 15 months of operation, the statement showed the fol- lowing figures;
 Total cost of liquors ........... .S4f6, ,S53. .12 Total expenses ..s................. 207 ,066. 15 Total sales to dispensers. ..... 694,271 .6o Amount due by dispensers to
 state ........,.......,........l1 l106, 496. AZ Amount cash received from dis
 pensers >..... 55asnls Amount cash all other sources. 10,s56. 26
 Total cash .....................s5s .s5s4. 676 39 Stock at dispensary ............... 65, 455. 59 Amount due by state dispensary. 4S,Sl5. % :Value of assets over liabilities. 147, 694. e5 From which deduct state appro-
 priation .....................,,...- 5O,OW. cO
 Net profits on books ........s e7. .694. %
 It was predicted that the state would earn S5OO.00O n year from the dispen- sary system. Exclusive of the dehcits in the accounts of several dispensers, the actual profit at the end of fifteen months was s74,285,72. This is niso exclusive of interest the state mp propriation of $50,00O and of the rental of buildings used for the dispensaries. No cash therefore had been turned over to the state at the end of these fifteen months, nor had the origins al ap- propriation of S50,0OO been refunded. At the end of 6 months the coun- ties and municipalities in the state had received from the dispensary a sum equalng not quite one-third of their usual annual income from liquor 1< IAA enriched.
 Opposition Grows As the methods of the politicians in control of the dispensaries became more and more rotten, the determined oppo- sitfon to the system grew greater. The first step to wipe off the dispensary law from the statute books came from the little town of Tirzah in York county
 By the use of a fine tooth comb on the map, the politicians had found Tirzah, incorporated ii, created a ma jority of freeholders on the swamp land system and introduced a dispensary. Rioting negroes on the roads of York county became common thereafter that State Senator J. Steele Brice took up the fight for, county option in the legislature and succeeded in having passed a county option bill. which the politicians let go through loaded with amendments which deprived any county voting for county option of its share of the dispensary revenue.
 Other counties, however, in spite of the deprivation. followed the lead of York county and voted for county op- ton.
 Imm edistely the corrupt politicians came into the open and began to use the Tillnan machine in the elections. The dispensary had 500 jobs a its com mand and every man in it's employ. in cluding the constables and local dis pensers and their assistants, received instructions on voting from the head quarters at Columbia. Then the people began to talk. and the inevitable hap pened when Senator Blease introduced in the senate resolution for legis-
 ative investigation.
 Probe Committee
 The legislative record of Senator Blease leads to the belief that his resolution was Introduced for the purpose of a gen. eral white-washing of the guilty ones The resolution was such a joke to several members of the house that they intro duced comedy amendments to show their contempt for the proceedings. If there was an agreement in naming the Investigating committee, fatal mis- take was made in placing on 1t two young members who were serving their first terms. Senator Neils Christensen, Jr, ed itor of the Beaufort Gazette, and Repre- sentative J. Fraser Lyon were the "mis- takes.'' They happened to be honest rep resentatiyes.
 As soon as the committee began it's work. Senator Blease. who introduced the resolution to appoint the committee, be- gan putting stumbling blocks in the way of its success. Lyon and Christensen were shunted into a sub-committe to in- vestigate the retail dispensaries and coun- | ty boards. Their work served to bring out the main facts shown in the 1905 in- vestigation and led up to the later expose | of the big steals.
 | It would take too much space to go into the details of the grating that made the dispensary system gold mine for the corrupt politicians. Thomas B. Fielder an Atlanta attorney, who helped in the | investigation, estimates the loss to the state of South Carolina to have been al least se00,oO0 a year during the dispen- sarles' operation.
 The essential fact Is that this sys. tenn Is inherently had and could no, then, uor ever can be productive oi any good.
 | How the Graft Worked | few months work showed the in vestigators that practically every dis. penser in the state was an agent fol | a brewery, wholesale dealer Sor distil- l lery. The grating schemes were many. As the state board. early ir | the game, had turned the bidding pro- vision of the law into a farce. the dealer who could make the best offer | to the purchasing board got the or | ders. Local dispensers were reached | by "extras."
 If a dispenser pushed certain brand of whisky. and ordered that brand in case lots from the state dis pensary, he would always find sew eral extra bottles when the goods came These he sold over his counter mission.
 Whisky houses quickly caught the way of the wind and began to hand out presents to dispensers to push special brands of goods. liquor dealer wrote the state board asking | If it was unla wful to give presents tc | local dispensers. He received the fol | lowing reply:
 | Dear Jim-Will say that I can sec nothing unlawful or improper in your giving Christmas present to your | friends" | The presents varied according tc the amount of goods sold. They con- sisted of gold handled umbrellas suits | of clothes horses liquor which could | he turned into cash, and, in one case a carload of handsome furniture val. ued at $500. The last named was q l present to member of the state board and came from a firm which sold whisky to the dispensary in car. load lots at $36 a drum, whereas the same whisky was sold in other states at s2S a drum.
 Scramble to Get In | William l. Burns, the detective who | do the ftarS ip ba