The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1913-07-02
WILL ORDER AN ELECTION.
People Ct Sumter to Have Opportunity to
Ynts on QisnenSarY Issue.

Supervisor Pitts stated Tuesday after
noon that he would order an election on
the dispensary, to be held on the third
Tuesday in August. After going over
the names on the dispensary petition,
the registration books and comparing
them with the county treasurer's exc
cution books it was found that more
than one-third of the qualified voters OF
the county had signed the petition and
there was nothing left then for the su.
pervisor to do but order the election.
For the past three weeks Supervisor
Pitts and Mr. r. L. Mcleod have been
working 90 the petition, the reglstra-
ton books and the county treasurer's
execution books and have had hardly
any tine for anything else. They have
been busy, probably the hardest part
of their duty being in answering the
Thousand and one questions which the
the prohbitionists, dispenSaryites and
persons just out Of curiosity had to ask
concerning what the supervisor was do
ing in connection with the matter and
what he would do in future. 1t is safe
to say that the course taken by Super
visor Pitts, while it might not meet
the appreciation of all the most ardent
workers on either side, is as fair as one
could have been devised.
His idea was 10 find out whether one
third OF the qalifed voters Of the county
hao signed the petition and he found
out that they had. He first took the Pc
titiou and carefully compared it with
the registration books, removing all
names which were not to be found on
the registration books. as only qualified
voters were wanted. He then went over
the list and compared it with The names
of those registered voters who bad not
paid their poll taxes before the fifteenth
of March, eliminating all names OF those
who had not paid their poll tax SIX
mouths before the time of the election.
Next he went over the registration
books. removing all names of those who
were known TO be dead or moved away
from the county. The registration
books were then com pared with the poll
tax executions OF the county treasurer
and the names of those non-signers OF
the dispensary petition who had not
paid their poll taxes six months before
the date of the proposed election were
eliminated. Before this task was COM
pleted it was found that more than
third of the qualified voters OF the
county had signed the petition and Su-
peryisor Pitts left off his comparisons
and eliminations.
There were left on the dispensary Pc
tition 1913 names. The names Of the
fifty persons who had signed the dlspen-
sary and anti-dispensary petitions were
removed from the dispensary petition.
When Supervisor Pitts left of his work
of comparison of the tax execution
books and the registration books, with
six townships still to be compared, be
had left 2.376 names of qualified voters
on the registration books. OF course,
this number would be considerably re-
duced if the comparison was continued
to the end. However. this final compar-
ison was not necessary and Supervisor
Pitts did not think it any use to 60 fur
ther than TO find out for a certainty
that more than third OF the qualified
voters had signed the petition asking
for an election on the dispensarY ques-
tion, of whether or not Sumter county
should re-establish the dispensary.
The decision to order an election will
no doubt be the signal for the COM
mencement of one of the hottest cam
paigns ever held in this county between
the prohibitionists and the anti-prohib-
itionists. The election will be on the
third Tuesday in August and it is prob
able that the hot weather will be made
even more hot by the ringing campaign
speeches and the earnest fight which
will be put up.-Sumter Item, June %.