The morning star and Catholic messenger. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1868-1881, 1872-08-11


,a1s a Letter on EotteEaes-Si gao
20 By AaPooR MAN. No. z.oOR MEN. sSssi at
. FAave much to say, and little tune to ssy it,
i must say It, to. those pike thshgs psads !
plain, yet be- 20 brief that cannot be Viain:t
unless my reader 10 resolved to understand me.
hate . Lottery With . bitter hatred. Il see
the damage it does and tho poor to whom u -
done; see the moral ruin it endangsrs, the !
peeuniary trials it produceN and the bitter -dis-
appointments with which II rewards the uu- I
reasonable hopes of fits victims. But. il msy |
he ssjd. II make bold to state that Lottery
10 such an evil; / ought to provsit. This do |
by demonstrating three statsments.iiSa1 Al 1
First. II Il Founded upon the absolate oertsinty
that tiokef-hezders chance e greater for 9osisg
sasn .0snning. Primarily, in any enterprise, the]
thing itself must Pas its own expenses, Then.
if it In in stoekholders' hands, it must pay
them ana since D lottery hiss both these items
to cover fret, II foll0ws inevitably that, since
tho money it talkes in has no time to 9roao tby
lending, making exchange or bptTowing), II
w&st pay ont In prizes lsss than it takes in for
| tickets. But this can b made certain only BY
so fixing tho price OF tiskets and the hazard Of
tinues to be buyer Of tickets, the more Ger
tsinly he spends more than he wins. This the
Lottery managers know how. to do by . leng-
perfected system of averages through which
tho order of chances becomes . certainty.
This, then, I say TO every poor man and wo-
man: it ought to DO plain to you that Q con-
earn which In itself peforms no resi- service to
the community, but 10 only . hole whore less
i q 10 vrryk in
supply its ofacers with steam yachts, grand
regattas and such toys must be . burden to
the people whether you happen to hold . lucky
4 ticket or not. You well know that Lotteries
derive their largest custom from the poor--the
4 very poor your dilemma (if you hold ticket)
is, therefore, this If you lose, you rob your
/ self and your little ones, and if You win, you
! rob those who who Lose. In either case you
| rob the poor and this, leads to my second
charge. -" :!
4 Secondly. 1t Is supported by the willingness Of
the ticket holder to scin phaf he has not earned from
those unfortunate ticket-holders] soho lose their
earniags. - II e.. '' ~ 5a~
| Tits common saying among poor people, that
what one man loses another makes. This is .
great mistake. If make something which !
cannot use OF sell, or buy q commodity Gallon
l
have to sell it in seven days ct the price I
paid. have lost weeks living, which I
should not have lost had traded in some
} thing which could pay my services. Now that
10 not o loss to me alone, it 10 o dead loss to
the community; it is % much labor gone for
nothing, and is just as truly disaster as tho
burning of house or the sinking Of goods
If want to make q living (and the world
T Ia kN IS
something that is ,ramtsd to BE done. All gain
ought to be earnings; that is the rule of health
> in commerce, and poor people have as much te
do with commerce as any; They may be OBJ.
3 scure, and. at times oppressed, but they are
the foundation stones, deep-laid, crowded down
: in the dirt aud built upon, over which rise.
: the great superstructure of the worlds trade
r The little factory girl must have her bread, OF
+. the queen cannot wear her laces. But tha
! gambler or the housebreaker-tbey may pl,
their work ever and ever 70 hard, and yet thu
world could do better without then-simpl,
'' because they de not do what aeeds to be done.
Now consider this fact closely; that 50 sool
}, as q man buys lottery ticket he has begun Il
n 90 against the whole system by which th
Q world moves round-the reward Of labor an,
o exchange of value-by trying to get what h
b ! hardly gotten, honestly earned, to draw on
y. ten Thousand which he has never earned, bu
which no knows has been lost by other poo
people laborers, bar maids, servants, sewing
= girls, hotel walters, prentice boys, sick womez
% and those unuttersbly unfortunate ones who's
!" vile wages should. burn like fro the hand tbs
J: wrests them. Great Heaven, what o thought
% that tho Poor should have found an engine b
T. which to rob and destroy each other. Bu
l- some one says, he certainly has robbed n
10 household but his own, for he has never wo
a anything. Then 1 turn to my third assumI
u ton.
nj Thirdly. 1t disorders the economy of q man
hosse, distracts HE corts from tho true methods
Iiciag, and makes him q gambler.
= Whenever = man begins the effort to e
money without earning it, he ignores the tru
method of living, and cultivates in it's place
~ system of unreasonable hopes that may be yer