The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1913-05-03

existing conditions under statutory
(but unenforceO prohibition Of IT,
liquor traffic, will have upon nuI't,
sentiment when the quest. .. t..
esta aolishing the count dl-p.. ..Iv .>
under consideration ,ls. Mr. J.u.
kins could not have arrived Jt thu
conclusior that the ei-t ot yv.r ar
gument seems to be that v1 need the
money" We have not advocated the
lre-establishment of the dispensary. or
the legalized sale of liquor under
any other conditions, in order that
profits may be derived from the traf-
fc. The nearest approach we made
To the conclusion that Mr.. Jenkins
draws from our comments, were two
conditional statements, TO wit:
We are frank to confess that we
do not know that conditions will i'm
prove If the dispensary is re-estab-
lished. but we do feel sure that they
cannot be much worse than they now
are and the revenue derived from the
dispensary will furnish money to aid
I'm suppressing lawlessness and i'm
making public improvements" and
IF the government is to continue
to recognize liquor as a legitimate ar
ticle of commerce the only way out
OF the maze of difficulties into which
NJ
by the National Government is for the
local governments to take possession
OF the traffic. sell pure liquor and use
me profits derived from the business
To tighten the burden Of crime and
poverty that the Incorporate use OF
liquor entails upon the community"
This is far from saying that we
need the money and therefore should
take up the liqucr traffic for the profit
that is In II and for the profits solely
The intemperate use of liquor is an
admitted evil: the use Of LIQUOR in
any manner is hazardous to the user
and therefore not to be encouraged.
erage. either by an individual, with
the consent of the government or by
the government itself through its
agents, IL not to be countenanced or
encouraged by those citizens who have
consideration for the moral and
physical welfare Of the community as
whole. If 1t were possible to aboi-s
ish the liquor tarfiic and eradicate the
evils of intemperace in any given
community by the mere enactment of
a law prohibiting the sale and use of
liquor, the problem would be n sim
pie one and there would be no room
for argument. But unfortunately the
problem is not so simple and theory
comes bluntly into conflict with the
stone wall of facts. We have pro-
hibited the sale of liquor In Sumter
County. but ii is still sold in large
quantities, and from the most reliable
information obtainable we have been
forced to the conclusion that the H.
legal sale is growing in volume, and
legal sale is growing in volume and
to this there Is ground for an honest
difference of opinion. Mr.. Jenkins
evidently entertans the belief that
conditions have been bettered by the
abolition of the dispensary in this
County and he has n we'll founded
hope that a continuation OF local
prohibition will result in continued
and progressive Improvement. If his
belief Is justified by the facts we
would be glad TO know it, but as mat
tiers stand his belief is q mere matter
OF opinion, with which we do not
agree. His offer TO donate $1,000
to charity. IL We can prove the mega
tive OF his proposition, is a safe chal-
lenge to make in the circumstances.
for we have neither the time to under
take the exhaustive investigation ne
proposes, nor the authority to COM
pei the express company and the
railroads to produce their records for
inspection. We will meet NJ. Jen-
kins more than half way, however.
IL he will undertake the investiga-
tion he suggests. and, when he has
gathered and col'ated the statistics.
II he establishes the correctness
OF his assertion that not one-half as
much liquor is sold i'm this COM
munity. (mcaning Sumter County, az
under the dispensary regime. we will
publish the fact and oppose the re-
establishment OF the dispcnsary with
all the energy that we possess If
he falls To establish the correctness
OF his assertion we will not claim the
$1,000 but let him retain il AS COM
pensation for the time and expense