The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1878-06-09

| excitement. But the lottery does not content
| itself with offering this class an opportunity
| to indulge this fierce passion. 1t resorts 10
every device TO tempt them to do 1t, to infat-
uate them with the game, to fix It's insidous
and blasting spell upon their minds and hearts.
These poor, deluded people furnish the lot
terry with large portion of its wealth they
feed, nourish and fatten It, as II were, with the
pttances spared from wages earned by toll
| and sweat and often by sore privatiOn. Hence
the lottery Is especially careful that as few
Of these as possible escape It's spell One
| Of its great duties is to make these people
| gamblers. and 1t has adopted the very best
means to accomplish that end. It seizes upon
and tempts them by exciting their supersti-
| tion. The great mass of ignorant
people believe firmly in dreams.
| 1t Is the duty of Christian people Of all hon
| est pcOple-to repress this and all other su-
perstitious beliefs; all honest occupations are
| benefited by enlightering all classes Of the
| people. But the lottery Is not an honest bust
ness, and with the zeal and skill of n fanatieal
missionary, it encourages, excites and plays
upon this superstition. It has dream books
prepared, in which every imaginable dream Is
bination of numbers The missionaries Of the
lottery devote themselves to teaching the
ignorant and supcrstitIous to believe that If
they buy lottery ticket with the figures
set opposite to any dream they may
have had they will draw a prize. It
Is startling to learn the extent to which this
superstition now prevails, and the multi
tudes of people who gamble in the lottery
Oh the strength of dreams. Many people
have become mOnOmaniacs on the subject.
their sleep Ia filled with dreams and their
money vainly invested in buying lottery
tickets with numbers indicated in the lot
tery's dream books. Christian people of New
Orleans Is not this startling fact?
Indeed it seems b. us that the churches of
this city should kakc some steps to break ND
an institution which is propagating a super
stition in our midst as detrimental to the mo-
raIty and the meatal health and happiness
of its wretched victims as many that prevail
amongst the hoathans, to whose aid they send
out missionaries, and for whose mental and
moral emancipation they spend thousands of
dollars annually, From every Christian pull
pit in New Orleans there shouH go out this
morning q deep and feeling protest against
the longer existence IN our midst Of the Louis
lana State Lottery.
Is there any work more in accordance with
the Christian religion, or which would be more
acceptable to God than a concerted movement
on the part of the minister's of the gospel in
New Orleans to break down an institution
which Is doing moro to drmOraliEe the poor
and ignorant classes Of the community
than all the churches can do
to cnlighten and morally advance them?
Let our Christian people especially our min
listers, think Of the petty thieves this insti-
tuition has made; Of the once happy and
woll-to-do working mon it has infatuated
and then ruined; of the suicides it has pro-
voked; of the numbers it has driven to III |
macy; of the debasing Influence it ia cxcrtng
in every walk and rank Of let our Chris |
tan people and their ministers, we say, CON
slider these things, and then say if it be not |
their most solemn duty to use all their
power and influence to destroy the Louisiana
State Lottery.