Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1913-09-26
voted: against tho business became

voted against the business became
tsdry" by legislative enactment. > =
IT wfll beSremembered blythe older
people that one of the principle prob
lens of the Tillman movement was the
management Of the anti-liquor senti-.
ment of the state. 1t was recognized
by Mr.. Tillman and his leading lieu
tenants that a great mass of the solid,
substantial citizens Of the state, the
very element to which the Reform"
movement must look to for success,
had developed determined opposition
against tn legalized liquor traffic, and as
to antagonize this element would mean
defeat, every care should be experience
ed to handle the delicate situation with
the utmost possible prudence" ...,
The crowd of ins against which the
Tillman fight was directed, stood hand
and glove with the liquor interests,
and it was very good politics to abuse
all together; but still because of seri-
Gus doubt as to where the balance OF
power lay, it was not deemed advisable
for the reform crowd to come out
openly, so 1t adopted shrewd scheme
under which it proposed to put separ-
ate boxes at all the precincts with the
understanding that as majority rule
stood high and above every other gov
ernmental principle, the Reform party
would be governed in its liquor policy
by whatever the majority would say.
A large majority of those voting In
the special box declared for state wide
prohibition, and with the counting OF
the votes there was a feeling that the
liauor question was out Of politics for
all time and that the saloon hydra
would soon be dead. But 1t did not turn
out that way. Tillman was not be-
lever in prohibition anyway, and not
having the political or moral courage
that was necessary to face the tremen-
dous clamor and political demoraliza-
ton that would follow the overturning
of such a business that had been inter-
twined with the social, political and
even religious life Of the state since Its
first settlement, he began looking about
for some way out Of the dilemma and
finally undertook to compromise the
situation by means Of the state dispen-
sary scheme. ,... ,... ...,. ......
1t is not the purpose Of this article to
go into the details in connection with
the substitution Of the dispensary law
for the prohibition law that had been
introduced and which could have easily
passed both house and senate; but
there is one circumstance that Is of es-
pecial significance. Numerous towns In
the state and some whole counties, had
after years Of earnest effort, abolished
bar rooms by majority votes, and final
ly succeeded in securing the passage OF
special acts through the legislature,
specifically prohibiting the legal sale Of
,iquor in those towns and counties. One
of the first of these was York. And as
sop to these communities through fear
that otherwise they would bolt the Re
form movement, there was incorporat-
ed in the original dispensary. law an
amendment which provided that moth
ing in the new act should be construed
as repeating any Of the prohibition laws
then in force. ....... .. ......
But with the passage Of the dispen-
sary law, then novel experiment, the
liquor question soon began to over
shadow every other ISSUE. and it be-
came a matter Of political necessity.
that state whisky shops be established
wherever there was promise of suffi-
cient business to make them financial
ly profitable. The law that had pro-
tected corporated towns that had pre-
viously elected to have prohibition,
was amended so as to provide that
they could call elections by petitions
and establish dispensaries on majority
votes, etc. After two efforts to estab-
lish a dispensary in Yorkville had been
voted down, Governor Tillman ordered
the establishment of one at Tirzah, and
thereby set in motion the forces that
eventually resulted in the destruction
of the whole system as originally es
tablished.
The story Of the TirZah dispensary,
the terrible harm 1t did, how the state
board was finally compelled to abolish
it, how the business was subsequently
transferred to Yorkville, and how as
the result Of the opposition Of the peo-
pie of York county, the whole machine
was finally abolished, would make a
wonderfully interesting volume; II 1t
were fully and truthfully written; but
that will hardly be done at the present
time.
But from what we know Of the whole
matter from long experience and OBJ
servation, we will say that If the people
of Swansea are really opposed to the
dispensary on principle, and they may
well be If they have due regard for
their present and future we'll being, all
they have to do is to keep on fighting.
The only hope Of the dispensaryites is
through the debauching Of the majority
into indifference, and this Is possible
for a while; but 1t cannot last indefi-
nitely. Right and decency will prevail
in the long run, and If the Swansea
people will conduct themselves in a
way to deserve to win, they will win.
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