The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1878-12-27
LOTTERIES.
Their TnsinuatinE and Benevolent AL
VertLsenents ITO Aid Education
and charity
tNew York Times

fNew York Times.l
TO read The nsnuatng and benevolent adj
vertisements of the lotteries, one might think
them the most unsel1sh and boneffceut institu-
lions imaginable Sometimes ii ia d library
which they are going 10 benefit, and the need of
library at the point indicated Is represented
to be very pressing. The buyer OF ticket is
assured that he Is assisting TO relieve "A deserv-
ing community from q condition of intellectual
famine. In imagination he secs himself the
meritorlous patron Of an institution with a
mnnsard- roof and WindOW-Caus Of Nova Scotia
blue stone, filed with works OF fiction bio
gtaphy. travels and science. and presided over
~ n bald ana mildewed librarian to whom tho
most reconcile tones and archaic manuscripts
and dim pnimpsests have yielded up the full
measure OF their burden. Under the aspiration
Of this surmise he bulges slightly with q con
seriousness of merit. and hopes he shall win the
capital prize. Sometimes 1t is a public eehool
which III to be benefited or founded. The public
school Is represented 10 be very much wanted.
The people are In n profound state of tgnOr-
ance. They can neither pare nor cipher. a. %
tho growing generation. they do not know
enough TO come in whom IL rains, and unless
the school IL founded will ripen into idiots.
Sometimes other objects are indicated in the
scheme Of benetaction, but they are always Of
an equally high-ioned character, and such as
appeal to the most generous sensibilities OF the
human heart. Their claims are set forth in 2
poignant and eloquent style. to which the cost
OF advertising lends the incidental grace of
brevty. and the evident sincerity ana earnest
ness OF the advertiser imparts a slight under
tone of pathOS, The purchase Of ticket Is
almost urged rs moral duty. II will possibly
bring opuence, probably competence, and Ger,
tainly the consciousness OF having contributed
TO a worthy public purpose. These are potent
persuasives with some. especially the former.
Vlrtuous and steady going people cannot VISIT
gambling tables without loss or reputation.
But anybody may. il he has the money buy q
lottery ticket and many lottery tickets, ana mo-
body be the wiser. The deacon who is Il pattern
Of moraitr, and looked W to by the whole par
ish may have his watch fob stuffed with them,
and even the wife of his bosom with tickets OF
her own mayhapl be mono the wiser. The
schoolmistress may pinch her small earnings
in the hope 10 better her fortune, and the shop
boy Is rather more likely to rob the I'LL after
reading about the chances OF wealth which the
lottery promises. The loss OF the money Is the
smallest III the evils which 1t nfliets. 1t relaXes
the sinews of endeavor and destroys thrift. All
vices are cinging estimate. rs hard to be con
Quered us they are easily acquired, and the vice
of gambling In this form is no exception to the
general rule. LII is. perhaps, more dangerous
and destructive than those which betray them-
selves openly for in the latter a sense Of shame
and the consciousness OF public reproach may
impel their posseSsor to stronger effort OF re-
kentucky and Louisiana are the only States
of the Union in which lotteries are still legal
lied as State instituii ions. Massal husetts and
Pennsylvania interdcted them in the same
year, S-nstigated thereto by growing
sense Of their evils and by the refOrmatory zeal
which work by Job r. TYSON. entitled A
Briet Survey Of the Great Extent and Evil Ten
denotes Of the Lottery System in the United
States" largely contributed. Connecticut fol
lowed in 1884, and in the interval all the States,
except the two named, have withdrawn
their authority from such enterprises. and
In some of them their advertisement and the
sale of tickets are forbidden by law. But the
statutes applicable to its repression are made
quate, and even such as exist are not consist
entity enforced, State ordinances forblddlng
the advertisement OF any such scheme Whaso
ever in any newspaper or other periodical with
In their boundaries, and national law render
ing ii a penal Otf6nSe TO circulate ADVERTISE
ments or prospectuses by mail would extirpete
the evil, root and branch. Pending such legis-
! IpadjOO cities
may greatly diminish Its power for harm by
following the example of the Times and yolun-
tarily rejecting all advertisements which relate
In any way to this illegal and injurious business