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Bernieim Distilling company, Louisville, Ky. W. Y. Johnson & Co., Cincinnati, Ohio. Rosskam, Gerstley & Co., Philadel phia, Pa. H. & H1. W. Catherwood, Philadel phia, Pa. New York and Kentucky company, New York, N. Y. Cook & Bernheimer, New York, N. Y. H. Rosenthal & Son, Cincinnati, 0. Fleishmann & Co., Cincinnati. 0. Fleismann & Co., Cincinnati, 0. I, Trager & Co., Cincinnati, Ohio. Ullman & Burton, Cincinnati, Ohio. Gallagher & Burton,, Philadelphia, Pa. Bluthenthal & Bickart, Atlanta, Ga. Commonwealth Distilling company, Louisville, Ky. Big Springs Distilling company, Savannah, Ga. Eargle Rock Distilling company, Baltimore, Md. In writing to said persons, firms and corporations, I notified them in substance that I had been retained by your board for the purpose of ascer taining and advising you with refer ence to the legality of the alleged sales of liquors by them, respectively, to the state dispensary, specifying in my letter the kind and price of the liquor and date of invoice and ship ment. thereof. I also notified them that I was unable to obtain suffi cient data and information among the records of the state dispensary show ing that they had valid contracts of sale with the former board.of direce tors, or that they were authorized to make the said shil.i:ents of liquor. I therefore requested them to- furnish ine with such information as might be in their possession relating to the al leged sales and shipments, so that I might,. he enabled to advise you in re ference thereto, and assuring each of said persons, firms or corporations that your board simply desired to act within the law, and to do justice to all parties concerned. I further noti fied them thatI, unless they held valid cont-aets of sale, it would become ily duty to advise you to reject the said shipments of liquor, and that, until the question of the legality of the alleged sales of such liquor could be finally determined, the said liquors were subject to their orders at the state dispensary, Columbia, S. C. Refused to Declare Sales Void. As-you are aware, quite a number of the parties, or their representa tives, appeared before the board at a meeting held on the 17th of Aprii, 3906, (to which meeting I had invited them to appear in person or by rep resentative) and volmtarily agreed to take back the shipments of liquor made by them respectively. The fol lowing is a list of t lie persons, firms or corporalions so agrevin-g to take back thle liblors shipped by Ilbenm, togetier with the invoice price there (ot, to wit: L. Thra.er & ('0..... .11,1419.24 S. (Grahfelder & Co. .....4,674.7.1 Big Sinigs l)ist illing Co. . 21,679.95 Bhuthbenthaiml & Bicka rt . .. . 5,296.80 W. W. Johnson & Co. . . 14,027.13 Bernheim Dist ill inn Co. 20016.52 The ot her parties, or their r'epres entatives, whlo wvere present at said1 meeting, claimed that they had made legal- contracts of sale with the state dispensary, declined, for that reason, to take back their liquors, and insist ed upon01 your boarmd ret aining and paying for thle same. A mong such parties were thlese who had ma<cte the largest shiipnmen ts to thle state (is pemnsary to wit: Anmchoer D)ist illinag c'ompany. 225 barr~iels, $29,320.20. Plischmani & Co., 520) barrels, $67,981l,.09; New York amid Kentuciky comnpany', 327 barr'els, $43,35.28; llman & Co., 55 barrels, $8,974.59. It a ppeaUrs tha~ t oher' parmties alIsc had imad e sundry( ~ shiipnments (of simal her~ amount s, wIhichi had 1been parmtly used or~ sold by the state( dispiensairy in thle regular couirse of its business, aiid it is unmnecessary to give a I abulla ted stalteemiint t hereo f, iniasmnuch as th eir shipimen ts, however small, ex eept where the same hav'e been aictu ally used, will be0 covered by my find ings with reference to the abev named firms or corporations. At the meeting held on April 17, I heard the statements made by the representatives of tihe above firms or corporations, as well as of othier firms or' corporations and also thme state inent made 'by Mr. 0. HL Charles, the - ~ clerk of the former board of direc tors, all of wvhielt ststements were made public before your board. Therefore, I .made such investlid tion and inquiry in the premises as I was able to make with a view of as certaining, as far as possible, all of the facts touching the legality of the alleged sale of liquor, wvhich'-are men tioned 'in yoiir rds6lution of March 6, 1006. I soon discovered that very Mttle could be ascertained from the papers and records in possession o 1tle state dispensary and my investi gation of the fact was delayed fo sonic tiue, on account of the fact tha the legislative investigating commit tee had taken into its possession ano removed nearly all of the books an redords relating *to the purchase o shipment of said liquors and, at tha time, two members of tile said com mittee were absent from the state That committee, however, very cour teously, during its meeting held sub sequently, granted me free access ti all of the books and records that weri in its possesion, and I.made a care full search and examination thereof in order to ascertain every fact tha might be disclosed by such examina tion. I also attended a number o. meetings of the said committee, fo the purpose of hearing the testimon, taken before it relative to the trans action of sundry and various liquo houses with the former board of thi state dispensary. It is to be regret ted that the records are so meagr and (lint so little can be ascertainc therefrom, but from the examinatioi and investigation I have ;nade an< information given me, I find thi following facts: The Findings. 1. That during the latter part o: the year 1905, and in the early par of the year 1906, the shipments o: liquor made to the state dispensari at Columbia appear to have been al most unprecedented in the history oj that institution. The statements ol Hon. W. 0. Tatuin, the commissione of the state dispensary, show that th< shipments were so unusually larg< that he rejected several earloads, ani( ordered that the same be reshipped t< the consignors. 2. That there does not appear t( be, among the records of the stat dispensary, anly miii nut es of' the meet ings of the former board of directori slbsequent to tle Imleetinl.g ill Febri. ary, 1905. Although I made diligeni search and inquiry for the same, ani although it was stated by Mr. Char les, the clerk of the former board that he left cerfain minutes ill a desl in his offive at the time lie severe his conmlcelion withif tle institution, i has not been possible to find any suel book. I was informed by members oJ the legislative investigating commit tee that they also had made diligeni search and inquiry for such minutes but were never able to find the same and that no such minutes had eve: been in possssion of that committee for that reason. 3. That there does not appear t< have been kept by the former'boar( of directors, as is required by law, i book in which is recorded all of thi hids made for the sale of hlquor t tle state dispensary. I (id discover however, a book in which has heci pwdled various hids for the sale o liqllmr submiiitfed by sindry firm1s n111 corporations, some of these apparent ly being~ thie original bids that ha< biein filed with thie staite Iraue whil e otfhers were cl early ea rhoin copi es ofI said bids. Tu some instaonces therec apipears ti lie an originial an two copies; ini other inst aces, an or iginal and( one cop)y of such bids. I: th is bo ok T also found thaf on D)ecemi h)er 4, 1905, the firms of 11. IHosenthai & Sons5, as appears b)y their letter i said( b)ook, forwarded their hid to lh state treasurer, and, at (lie same tim forwarded a copy thereof to thle stat board of directors, in clear v'iolatio: of the dlispensary law. 4. That I have not bein able ascertain from any records or othe data ill (lie state dispensary, any evi dence whatever of awvards madet (lhe vairiouis liquior houses submliit tin hidus iturintg thle laf ter pair t (lite yen 1905. Nor have any of (lie pa rties r firms, upon my request, submnitte any evidnce1C of valid contracts r sale, or flint awvards had been mad1 to them upon their bids, except in fewv iristane ', felegraphiie ordlei from Mr. Charles, clerk of (lie fme mer board(' of directors. 5. Th'lat from admissions made b, (lhe parties,' oir their r'epresentaitive: as well as statements made by Ma Charles, f'romer clerk of (lie hoard,i appears t hat (lie liquors in questio were or'dered shipped to thIe stat dispensary b)y Mr. Charles, clerk c the board, and thant these orders wer sometimes made by letter, freguni ly b)y telegram, sometimes by tel( phone, and at other times v'erbanlly reCpresentatives of' the liquior' hiouse,i Columbia. Mr. Charles claimed tha his actioni was based upon a resolui tion of thle state board of directors which gave him authority to mack such orders. 6. That on the 11th day of October 1904, as appears from the minutea the former board of directors adopt ed the following resolution: ''Resolved, That the majority o the board of director* he suffielent t aulthloriz/e the clerk and commissione to ordler out any goods that 5sa4 board of dirootor may. ptre."e f On the' same day, bul',appearing r - subsequently in the minut'es, Is the i following: - t "The board, after discussing sever al matters, instructed the,clerk to n I order out such goods as Navs needed r i by the dispensary, until further or- i< r ders, and adjourned to meet"the regul t ar time in December." r It is evident that these are the res- n olitions referred to by Mr. Charles e . as his authority for ordering liquors. b So far as I have been able to ascer- i k y tain, none of the liquors in question s( a were shipped under written orders, I - signed by any member of the former , board of directors, and it appears t from the statement of Mr. Goodman, - representative of Anchor Distilling n i company and Ulman & Co., made at o r your meeting in April last"'that lie si did not know that the houses repre- d sented by hin had ever had a writ- 1 r tell order from the board of directors, in that he, himself, would direct the ii shipment of liquors from his houses b 3 on orders given to him by Mr. Char- c I les, who sometimes gave him a verbal- p order in Columbia, and at other times i< gave him an order by telephone. No a: record seems to have been kept by si Mr. Charles of those various tele- p graphic, telephone and verbal orders for liquors. 7. I find that. the shipments of t( liquor to the stale dispensaorY be tween October 1, 1905, and tie 1st cc day of February, 1906, were very at largely in excess of the amounts nee- a essary for the use of the dispensary ai during that time. is R. That tihe adverl:sements issued ol and published by tlhe former board of p directors and upon which bids for b liquors were solicil ed, fixed a mini- in mum value below which no bid could oi be received. Thatt part of the adver- ed tisement. which relates to the liquors covered by your resolution is in the la following language: "We also solicit le bids on rye liquors to grade in value I at $2, $2.50 and $3 per gallon: corn y at $1.75 and $1.85 per gallon; anl e malt at $2 and $2.10 per gallon.'' d 9. That, on the 12th day of Octob- fj or, 1904. the attention of the board of ; directors was called in the manner in S which its advertisements for bids p for liquors were made, as appears ell from a letter addressed to th.e board, p which is as follows: b October 12, 1904. st T'o the Honorable Board of Directors, ft of the State Dispensary, City. si Gentlemen: After a mature study si of the mode of advertising for bids a on bulk goods by the board, I have ti conie to tie conclusion that it would. tf be more in accordance with section 0: 557 of the dispensary law and for n the best interest of the institution, I an( the consumers of whiskey in the d state, for.your board to cliange your t< N ew berr Capital stock paid in ~Surplus. . . . Deposits . . . . We do business on bu We extend every cor Swith safe and sound bal Four per cent. paid 01 Department 'Fi: Burglar Pri JAS. McINTOSH, President. ~THE B4UK OF PROSPERI Gupital Stock - -- a Undivided profits - " Interest allowed at rate of 4 pt - Special attention to farmers' ' srnall, none too large to enlist our to meet and greet you. Call in. G. Y. Hunter, lPresident. - J. F. Browne, Cashier. N. L. lack.Board of D N. L Blck. A. H Hawklr S. S. Birge. . S Wheele S. P. Booz er. . \& ite ext notice so as to pIae the awarid ig of these contracts strictly :on a iimpetitivo basis. I would be pleased to take thiE latter up with you and, sub0it mj 3asons, which. are. too long and tedr mUs for a letter. With the assurance' that My onl 3ason for making this suggestion i ty interest in the institution and the )nsuners that you and myself have aen elected to take care of, and.the nowledge that each of you, like my. lf, has their best interest at heart, am, Yours trult, W. 0. Tatum, Commissioner. The above is a statement of ni aterial facts relating to the legality C the alleged sales of liquor to the 'ate dispensary, and shipped to' it aring the latter part of the year )05. Of course, there are a great any other facts and circumstances directly bearing upon the question, At so far as my conclusion is con rned, and for the purpose of my re )rt, it is unnecessary, in my opin n, to set them, out in full, inasmuch I have reached a definite conclu ated, when applied to the law ap licable thereto. The law providing for the purchase liquors for the state board of direc 's is purely statutory. The board directors, while in one sense offi irs of the state, still, in my opinion, -o mere agents of the state, so far the purchase of liquors isinvolved, id their authority to make purchases measured and limited by the terms the statute. The board has no >wc-s, except such as are conferred the statute, and it has no rights reference to the purchase of liqu s, except such as are plainly declar and set forth in the statute. In section 557 of the dispensary w, as amended by the act of the gislature, approved March 2, A. D. 103, statutes at large, volume 24, ige 117, "It is provided, among oth things, that the directors of the spensary shall advertise quarterly r bids to be made by parties desir to furnish liquors to the dispen ry for such quarter. It is further 'ovided, that the bids shall be se irelv sealed with the seal of the com iy, firm or corporation making the d and forwarded by express to the ate treasurer, Columbia, S. C. It is ti-ther porvided, that only one bid all be made by any one, which shall ate the quality, price and chemical anlysis thereof, and, at the same me, ''and accompanying said bids, tere shall be a sample of each kind liquor offered for sale, containing >t more than one-half pint each, h1ihe sample shall, on its arrival, be Aivered to dispeisary commissioner, be retained by him until after it v S. C. . $ 50,000.00 . . 25,000.00 . 235,000.00 ~iness principles. sideration consistent Iking. i deposits in Savings rse Proof Vault. >Of Safe. J. E. NORIWOOD, Cashier PROSPERITY, TY, S. C. - - $'25,006,o0 - - 1 2, 160.00 r cent. on time deposits. accounts. No account .toc :pst attention. It Is a pleasure I. S. Wheeler, Vice-President. [;unt, Hunt & Hunter, Attys. areetorat s. RB. Warner has been aseertained that the wines or liquors purehased correspond in all respects with the sample, said samplO to, be the proyrty of the state. '. By the express'terms of the statute, the statIe treasuret 'shall not himself) or allow' any one to in spect said bid or.wtha envelopes con taining said bids, bnt shall deliver said bids to' the directors of the dis pensary, at a meeting of the board of directors, who ,shall open said bids in public, and record all said bids in a book kept for that purpose." The statute further provides, as follows: "Said directors of the dis pensary shall pui-chase all alcoholic liquors for lawful use in 'his state, and shall haye- the same tested and declared to be chemically pure; and if the wines and liquors purchased fail to correspond in 'any respect with the samples furnished, the seller thereof shall forfeit to the state a sum not exceeding the value of said liquor, to be recovered in an action brought by the state against such sel ler; and said contract bidded, for such quantities and kinds of liquors as may be deemed necessary to the dispensary for, the quarter, and said contracts shall further provide that the directors of the dispensary may order additional quantities of liquors sufficient to supply the dispensary should there be need of more, from Feed and Sale Stable -:- AT -: NEW BARN -:- OF -: A. T. Brown on Caldwell St. Brown & Co. rend SIOu Before Tak Commencing Monday, Decei our annual fall clearing out sale when we put out an advertisern not a catchpenny and windy scl strictly business matter, 1st. T trouble and expense of taking bargains to many people. We or one fourth off of the followin All Clothing, Men's, Colored Vinte*r Dress C all Ladies' Jackets, Car mere for Men's Pants; dies' Hats and Fascina1 Squares; all Trunks. This sale positively goes into and will end any time we may< early and get choice selections of goods outside of our special we claim we cannot be beaten. Sewing machines, guarantee ui reliable Domestic Sewing Mac! For Christmas presents don" Our 28th car, making 3000 Flour, has arrived and going rt Best Patent - - Best H alf Patent - Kill dried Meal .. Kill dried Grits .. Every barrel guaranteed. B may have to pay $6.00 for sam vances. We are selling hundr No goods on probation or ch~ P ROS PE R STAT E Of the Condition of the Commercial B1aula of business Dec RESO0URC1Es, Loans and discounts,.......,$270,010 89 Demand loans................ o,84r 8i Overdrafts secured .......... 2,69 o4 Furniture and Fixtures.....-3,116 93 Due from banks and bankers 114,576 94 ...................... ...... 6,400 00 Silver, nickels and pennies 778 53 Cheeks and cash itemn,...... 4,910 .53 TXotal............... ... $456,67 STATF, OF~ SOUTH CARONINA, COUNTYV OF NE~WBidhi~. Befoi-e me crne,J. i. McFall,'who b stotent is a true condition of said, bai k Swo'rn to-ad 'subs Hb<l be(Oreme, Corret Attest: Geo. -W. Sutnr1. ' 41W0,%"Pjf VC4841"a"T&J AUJV4 the same, persons or 'corporati,ns at the sarba price, for that quarter." The following significant. proviso is also in said section, to wit: "Pro S. B. JONES RESTAURANT 10I THV PLAOR TO GET Good Things to Eat ON SHORT NOTICE AND AT MODERATE PRICES. Oysters on Half Shel. Oysters any Style.. Fish, Game, Steak, in fact Everything that the market affords. Patronage of Ladies Solicited. Opposite Newberry Hotel Office and Next Door to Pool Room. ' LOOK FOR THE SIGN S. B. JONES' RESTAURANT NOTICED Before letting the contract for your new build ing see W. T. Liv ingston. B e s t Work. Lowest prices. Lock Box No. 59., Newberry, S. C ghler Sole :ing Stock. nber 17th, we will commence . People have found out that ent it means something and is ieme to fool the people, but is a clean out our stock, to save stock and 2nd. To give many will positively give 25 pel' cent. g goods: Boys' and Youths'; all oods; all Ladies' Skirts; es and Furs; all Cassi Men's Dress Shirts; La :ors; all Rugs and Art effect Monday, Decernber 1 7th, :hoose to call it off, so come We have an Immense stock iale, and for bargains all around We have special drop head ilimited, for $17.93, and new, lnes $25.00. fall to see our selections. barrels of choice Tennessee pidly at following prices: -- - $4.35 - - - - 3.85 . . 75 cents. bu .$1.75 sack. etter bu o,next spring you e flour. Buy before price ad ads, let us sell you. arged at these prices./ ITY, S. C.4 M EN T Located at Newberry, S. C., at the clos enmber 20, 1906. UndiidedproinerLren. expenses and tan) paid.... 43,36r Due to banks and but k ers---- 5o8 D)ue unpaid dividends--.... 727 Individual deposits/subjectto . Sayngh eoIts.....