American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1873-02-15
Lotteries.


New York Mercantile Journal
A Louisville contemporary has
done well in pointing ont the fact
that the lottery authorized by the
of Kentucky, which has
been extensively advertised at the
as designed for the bene-
fit OF a library in that city, has
benefited this institution to the ex
tent of less than half the net profits.
The other half is stated to have
been received by individuals, while
e167 900 are returned as spent in
advertising and general expenses,
and $4,000 additional have been
allowed to agents. 1t is also init
mated that the treasurer" has had
hundreds of thousands of dollars in
his hands which were deposited in
his bank and loaned out on cali,
whereby somebody made a profit.
This will Illustrate the absurdity
and impolicy of encouraging such
means of aiding deserving objects.
If the statements referred to are
correct-and they. purpOrt to be
based on official figures-the trans
action is a swindie; not so bad a
one as some others, but still swim
die. Most lotteries will be found OH
examination to be open to tho same
objection. Some years since the
protector of lottery published the
total value Of the tickets offered for
sale in the same announcement that
trumpeted the chances for prizes. a
comparison of the two showed that
he expected to sell 1850, 900 worth
of tickets and to give $379, 600
worth of prizes. Allowing S21 900
for advertising and Office expenses,
this would give a net profit of TWEEN
ty-five per cent. This is, while a
large majority of the ticket holders
must have got back considerably
less than they paid, about One-fifth
of them got nothing. Yet this was
probably one of the least unfair OF
such schemes. Many lottery man.
ayers dare not publish the figures
that wOuld make an examination
practicable.
At the same time, it ca hardly be
said that those who buy lottery
tickets, and draw blanks, deserve
sympathy. The spirit in which such
purchases are made is not a thor
ouRbly honest one. He who buys a
chance does not intend to render
service for service, nor to give value
for value; he does it hoping thai
luck-or, it very foolish and con
ceited, his own shrewdness-wil
enable him to obtain a large value
or service in return for very small
outlay. 1t he takes ten-d0llal
ticket. he hopes to draw a prize Of
say one hundred dollars-to get
ninety dollars for nothing. He is
willing that nine others shall each
lose ten dollars that they have
earned by their labor, in order that
he may receive ninety dOllars-less
the lottery promoters plumber
that he has not earned. With such
a spirit at the foundation, it ia not
strange that operations Of this sort
readily run into all kinds of fraud
The Spanish government, and some
others that are nOtoriOusly behind
the age, still raise revenue by means
of lotteries, and wide demoraliza
ton is the result.
A thoroughly honest man feels nc
desire to receive the property OF
others unless he returns affair equi
valent. Efforts to gain wealth by
methods that hinge upon the element
Of chance are neither useful nor re-
putable. They produce nothing,
nor do they add anything to the
possessions of society. A lottery is
simply a game where all the parties
play, intenling-and knowing that
all intend-to cheat if they can. 1t
ia contrary to Gods law Of nature,
and hence it would be found that
those few who happen thus to Oh.
tain fortune, rarely. If ever, keep
it. They have not the knowledge
which experience in honestly &C.
quiring givea-the difficult art of
keeping. They are apt to squander
their sudden gains in a short time,
and to revert to their original con-
dltion But for this state of things
their fluctuating fortunes have un-
fitted them, aud therefore the result
of their ill-gotten wealth is utter
ruin.
When the managers of the Me-
tropolitan Sanitary fair in this city,
in 1858, proposed to increase their
fund by the aid of lotteries, Horace
Greeley, together with a number of
clergy men and other prominent
citizens, earnestly protested, and
saved the community from the evil
effects of such an example. 1t were
to be wished that all good men and
women were aware of the dangers
that lie in raffles and other seeming
ly harmless modes of raising small
sums for benevolent objects. The
young lady who at a church fair
l,ersuades young man to take a
chance in . rattle, may realize,
when her hair is gray, that she led
him into the path that made him a
gambler.
The Vicksburg Ne,cs, IN a plain
talk to the members of the Legisla-