Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1912-02-20
CARD FROM Mr.. BRIcE.
Member Of Windins-Up Commission
Writes Some Hot Stuff.

state "all of us know what a smooth
citizen Fielder is-how he got a. rake
off that would excite the envy OF the
original dispensary grafters," and, in
order to belittle the Ansel winding-u up
commission and represent them as
mere tools in Felder's hands, you go on
to assert In your attack on Stevenson.
that Stevenson was the only man in
the way whom Fielder had occasion tc
fear" Now, of course, II you honest
ly believe that the Ansel winding-up
commission stole money, or allowed
Tom Fielder to steal money, 1t Is not
only your privilege but your duty to
expose them. OF course, IL you believe
Blease's charges, as you seem to do, that
the commission was incompetent, you
have a perfect right to say so. AS ]
now recall you published Blease's out
rageous and false charges against the
commission about a year ago In your
paper, without comment, thus leaving
the public to draw the conclusion that
the charges were probably true. And
I also recall that at various times you
have sneered at the commission and
criticised their actions for collecting
money out Of liquor houses that had
swindled the state, and 80 ] presume
you agree with your friend Blease on
another proposition, that the right way
to have wound up the state dispensary
would have been to convert the liquors
and supplies on hands into money, fix
"a day to settle with the liquor houses
notify them all to appear on that day
to present their sworn accounts and
receive their money, and, pay them on
In full whatever amount they claimed
Now assert that restitution Is right
hA&
II think II I had stolen money from you,
you would think that when was
caught with the money should give II
back to you, and every other right
minded man would say I should re-
turn It also. I commend also to your
careful consideration a statement from
an Old Book, with which I presume
you are familiar which is as follows:
IF he (the thief be caught he shall
restore seven fold. He shall give all
the substance of his house"
II there was one liquor house that
swindled South Carolina out Of more
money than any other during the
reign Of the state dispensary, 1t was
the Richland Distilling company. and.
at the time the Ansel commission was
removed by your friend the present
governor, this same Fielder you speak
of had q suit pending against them for
five hundred thousand dollars. and
they had offered to compromise this
suit for one hundred thousand dollars
in cash. Also II was the intention OF
the commission to require any dispen-
sary official who had taken money
from the state to restore the same.
Now as q citizen of South Carolina,
who loves his state and who has served
his state without asking for any re-
ward for his services, and knowing the
criminal trials of the dispensary OFF,
cials were mere political battles, had !
remained on the commission I should
have certainly attempted to have had
these parties make restitution, regard
less Of whether they were ever tried
in the criminal courts or not.
From the establishment Of the state
dispensary system In July, 1898. until
its abolition in February, 1907, period
of nearly fourteen years, there were
charges Of rebate and graft made on
the hustings, on the newspapers, and,
on the floor Of the house and senate In
Columbia, but these charges were al
ways met with scorn and derision, and
even the honest yeomanry OF South
Carolina attributed them to political
prejudices. The state Of South Caro-
lima spent thousands Of dollars through
a committee appointed on motion OF
Cole L. Blease investigating the state
dispensary, and while Lyon and Chris
tensen of that committee did faithful
work, they only succeeded in stirring
up some black slime on the surface OF
the reeking and rotten dispensary cal
dron, and the state dispensary advo-
Gates, your friend Blease among them.
on the floor Of the senate dared and
defied them to go into the criminal
courts on any of the evidence they
produced. It Is true after they made
their report every honest man In the
state believed the system was rotten,
and acting on this belief the legislature
abolished the system, but everybody In
South Carolina believed 1t was impos-
court that any one connected with the
system was guilty of fraud and Of lar
ceny. But, in 1907 when Thos. B. Fell
der appeared on the scene OF action
and stripped himself and went down
into the black and seething dispensary
pit, he came back with his hands full
Of positive, indisputable written evil
dence Of the guilt Of the dispensary Of
ficials and Of liquor houses. Fielder
and Fielder alone produced the evidence
that satisfied everybody, friend and foe,
of the dispensary system that stealing
and good stealing had been going on to
such an extent that 1t was reduced to q
system. Tom Fielder is no saint and he
is no Prohibitionist. He Is one Of the
attorneys for the Liquor Dealers asso-
citation now, Che was not at the time he
was employed by the commission) but
he is the man who furnished the evi-
dence that forever damned the state
4
South Carolina owe him debt Of
gratitude for his work. I know Of no
lawyer in the state Of South Carolina,
and I know something about the bar
of this state, who had the legal and de-
tective ability combined to do the work
Fielder did, and I assert there Is not q
lawyer in the state could have done It.
So IL by Felder's rake Off" you mean
the fees the state commission paid him
under a written contract, I assert he
didn't cost the state a dollar, and
through his efforts money was put In
the state treasury and his fees and
that monev put in the state treasury
was money which would otherwise
have gone into the tills Of corrupt IL
quor houses that had been swindling
the state for years, and that Thos. b.
Fielder fairly won and richly deserved
every cent he got. / know he has in
CURED the everlasting Ill will of those
against whom he presented evidence.
know Blease's dispensary commits
sion spent a year trying to get him In
Jail. l know nothing about the man
except his work as attorney for the
winding-up commission, and / would
be untrue to myself IL did not stand
up and say he did his work for South
Carolina wisely and well, faithfully and
efficiently, and earned every dollar he
received.
While I have not the report before
me today, when the winding-up COM
mission sold the liquor and supplies
on hands, the liquor houses proved
debts against the state to the amount
of about 100000, and there was not
enough money on hands to pay the
costs of the administration and the
liquor house debts, and, when Fielder
with his evidence and show
ed by competent and indisputable evil
dence that the state did not owe them
half this amount, the liquor houses
went into the United States court In
order to get their 100000. And right
here 1 must say that 1 have always
been surprised at the large number OF
our citizens many Of them good, hon
est men, loyal citizens, but so blinded
by their love for the state dispensary
system that they almost prayed that
the United States court would acquire
-l u,{nl Of q ira