Henderson daily dispatch., 1936-04-11

Keep the present county liquor con-
troll and liquor stores plan and will
put up a bitter fight against any 9TH
er plan in the next General assembly
The 81 liquor stores in these II coun-
ties had gross sales amounting to ST.
88O,685 the first six months thew we,
in operation, with profits amounting
to $421, 1923 for this same period. This
means that these stores are doing a
gross business of more than $4,000, 900
year and that the profit accruing
TO the counties is amounting to al
most $1,000,000. This is the easiest re-
venue these counties ever collected
and they naturally do not wish to kiss
1t goodbye. Virtually every candidate
for the General Assembly from these
IL counties has already announced
That he is running on county con-
troll platform and will fight to prevent
any change in the present system.
NeighbOr Counties EnviOus
In addition to these II wet counties.
almost every dry neighboring county
wants liquor stores, it is agreed, be-
cause these other counties see the re-
venue the wet counties are getting
from the liquor stores and because
they know that residents of the drv
counties are helping swell the profits
OF the liquor stores in the wet coun-
ties. So great many of the candi-
dates from the present dry counties
both in the east and in the Piedmont.
are running on county liquor control
platforms, in the belief that nothing
will supply more easy revenue and
more political jobs for those counties
than the opening of county liquor
stores.
AS result, all except the most dry
of the bone drys now are inclined to
agree that the 1887 General Assembly
will be preponderantly in favor of the
legal sale of liquor and will extend the
present county option system under
which any county which wants to may
hold an election and vote on whether
it will have county liquor stores or
not, or permit the counties to vote on
the opening of State stores, under
State supervision and control, but in
which the counties and towns will
share the revenue with the State.
Those who believe that liquor control
dLICA IIJdIl ICV0uuO SHOULD .O0 maze
the principal objective, insist that the
State stores plan is much better than
the county stores system, although it
is agreed that many of the counties
will fight for teh counties to get all
the revenue, especially the counties
which now have liquor stores.
Position of Candidates.
And here is where the candidates
for the Democratic nomination for
governor come into the picture. Clyde
r. Hoey and DR.. Ralph w. Mcdonald
have almost identical positions with
regard to liquor and liquor control,
both having said they are willing to
submit the question to Statewide re-
ferendum. This is exactly what the
bone-drys want done, being confident
they can defeat any Statewide liquor
control or county option referendum
plan in a Statewide referendum, es-
pecially since they can count upon
the Republicans to vote with them a
gainst any of these plans, just as they
did in the 1888 referendum on the
eighteenth amendment But there isl
nothing to indicate that the next leg
islature will consider submitting the
liquor question to Statewide vote,
since the 1885 legislature refused tol
do so, knowing that if 1t did the pro-