The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1912-10-04
our SENIOR SENATOR
And The DISPENSARY
TILLNAN WRITES ARTICLE DE-
PENDING HIS RECORD.
Says Those Who Changed the Law Are
Responsible for Corruption Con-
nected with DispenSary.

The newspapers have received from
Senator Tillman a letter written by
him to Mr. w. H. L. McLaurin, of
Latta, and accompanied by the state
ment that it is given to the press as
Senator Tillman's defence and ex-
planation of the oft-repeate6 charge in
all the daily papers, that he is re-
sponsible for the corruption which is
believed to have been bred by the
dispensary system
The letter in full follows:
Trenton, S. c., Sept. %, 1912.
Mr.. w. H. L. McLaurin, Latta, S. G..
My Dear Sir: Your letter of Sep
tember II came in due course of mail,
and l have read it several times very
carefully You say, 1--WE concede your
every honesty of purpose, but the facts
stand out against you too plain to de-
ny that you are the paternal ancestor
of both the dispensary and Bleaseism.
Both of these "isms' will be handed
down in history, when you and l have
both been gone to the judgment, as
the greatest curses in the history Of
our great Commonwealth. And l am
sincere in saying, Senator, that you
will have no greater sin to answer for
in that great day than the two men.
TONED above"
% AS there are two counts in your in
dictment against me, will dispose OF
the dispensary indictment first. l
may discuss the one about BleaSelsm
later, although 1 have already pointed
out the difference between Bleaselsm
and Tillmanism.
A great many people in South Caro-
lima have been taught and belleVe re-
ligiously that am responsible lot tne
dispensary law, and hold it against me
as a crime against the people of the
State. l did originate the law and to
that extent am responsible, But many
people still believe it the best whlskey
law ever conceived. The law as it was
written by me and enacted by the leg
islature provided that the governor,
the attorney general and the comp
troller general should ex-officio con-
stitute the State board of control, and
perform all the duties Of the board,
to wit, buy the supply of liquors Tor
the dispensary, appoint the dispensers
and in every way superintend the busl-
ness l made thorough study OF the
whiskey business from start to hnlsn
and found out about its manufacture,
manipulation and adulteration. I read
everything l could get on the subject,
made inquiries of distillerss. Eholesal-
ers and retailers, investigates bottlng
works and found out all ahoutt the
manufacture of beer, how it is .brewed
and how whiskeys are blended or mix
ed. | learned that cologne spirits or
deodorized alcohol is the basis OF
nearly all liquors sold in this country,
and l was perhaps the best posted
man on the subject in the State.
The law worked well under this
system and there was no just or even
reasonable complaint Of corruption
while was in the governors Office.
There were, of course, charges OF re-
bates, and there will always be charges
against an unpopular law, and those
who administer it. Men will always
find something to complain OF. The
bar room element and their friends
fought the law bitterly, and they re-
ceived aid and comfort in a very
marked degree from the "Antl-TIll-
nantes solely because of their poll
tical animosity. So bitter was the fac
tionalism in 1892 and 1894 that l could
do NOTHING right, no matter how
hard tried. My enemies were always
lying in wait to pick flaws and ind
fault Not a scintilla of evidence was
ever produced to show that / ever got
rebates; and only the meanness and
venom of my political enemies led to
the accusations being made. re-
torted on my accusers that they
thought l stole because if they had
had the chance l did they would have
done so, and they could not possibly
conceive how a man could be honest
under such temptation and opportunl-
ties. | explained that the reason l did
not collect for the State the rebates
allowed by the Mill Creek Distilling
company, from whom l bought many
thousands of dollars worth of Whlskey
and other liquors, that I did not want
to have anything to do with, rebates.
The Mill Creek Distilling company
had credited the State, and seld 1t
over $4,000 worth of liquors, largely
on its confidence in my personal in
tegricy. l agreed with Mr., Hubbels OF
the Mill Creek Distilling company,
that the company should get all the
rebates allowed by the trust, as a
bonus for its liberality in dealing with
the State. Without this credit the dis
pensary never could have started, as
only $4,000 had been appropriated by
the legislature, and nearly all OF this
was spent in fixing up the agricultural
hall to run the business.
The law was being fought very bit
terly in the courts and otherwise, This
bitterness was produced and kept alive
by the bowling of the News and Cou-
rier and the State newspapers, mainly,
and the others yelping in chorus. So
bitter was the feeling in the State,
and to such a high degree of passion
had the newspapers famed the flame
of opposition to the. dispensary, that