The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1878-05-09
TAXING THE LOTTERY.

TAXING THE LOTTERY.
Mr.. John A. Mutris, a so-called citizen o.
New York and a stakeholder in the Louisiana
State Lottery Company has filed O bill In the
United States Circuit Court asking for a writ
Of Injunction restraining Tax Collector E
A. Burke the Attorney General of the State
the city attorney and others from collecting q
tax OF $4,000 assessed on the capital of the
Louisiana Lottery Company by the Board OF
Assessors, on the ground that the assessment
is In violation Of the charter OF the company.
The bill claims that the gambling monopoly
according to Its charter, is free from all taxes
after its payment Of $4,000 to- the educa-
tional fund or Charity Hospital.
Let us look at the law and see the brazen
insolence of this institution. which. while
realizing thousands of dollars per annaim Out
OF its eorruptly obtained franchises. deties the
State and city to collect taxes fromit Article
118 of the constitution of 1868 reads thus:
Taxation shall be equal and uniform
throughout the State All property shall be
taxed In proportion to its value, TO be ascer-
tanned as directed by law. The General As
sembly shall have power to exempt from
Ii,
school or charitable purposes.
Article 5, section /, of act No. 25 of 1868,
creating the Louisiana Lottery Company,
reads thus:
''The corporation shall pay to the State Of
Louisiana the sum of $4,000 per annum,
which sum shall be payable quarterly in ad-
vance from and after the first OF January,
1869, to the State Auditor, who shall deposit
the same In the treasury OF the State, and
rs,5r( oh hon In tod To fhn nJ,I
tional fund; and said corporation shall be ex-
empt from all other taxes and licenses of any
kind whatever, whether from State, parish
or municipal authorities"
The reader will observe that this act is in
palpable violation of the constitution, which
provides, In the article just quoted that call
property shall be taxed in proportion to its
value" Further the charter of the Lousi-
ana Lottery Company, granting it to have
been legitimately obtained was a mere legis-
lative grant, and, even IL not in violation of
the constitution, which, as we have shown 1t
plainly was, was subject to repeal by subse-
quent act Of the Legislature Then 1t has no
claim to exemption from taxation, for in 1870
the Legislature passed a new charter for the
city, section 10 of which, amended by act
No. 4S Of 1871, reads as follows:
Be 1t further enacted etc. That all real and
personal property in the city Of New Orleans,
whether owned by individuals or corporations,
shall for the purposes of this act be liable to
taxation, subject to the exemptions specified
by this act.
Section 80 reads thus:
That this act shall go into effect upon its
passage and that all laws or parts Of laws
conflicting herewith be and the same are
hereby repealed, SO far as they conflict.
Thus explicitly repeating all grants OF ex-
emption from taxation which the gambling
monopoly might have had under the uncon-
stitutional act of 1868
The Legislature plainly exceeded its pow
ers in exempting the Lottery Company from
taxation, as any one may see by reading the
clause of the constitution we have quoted, in
violation Of the letter and spirit of which the
act of 1858 was passed. But waving the con-
stitutional point, the General Assembly of
1871 granted to the city of New Orleans
charter comforting upon 1t the power to tax
all property within its limits. except such as
was exempt under the constitution and the
provisions of said charter. and repealed all
laws and parts of laws conflicting Herewith
Now then, in the face of these laws, Mr.
John A. Morris, claiming to be a citizen of
New York, but such only for the purposes of
bringing suits for the Louisiana Lottery
swindle before the Federal courts. appeals to
Judge Billings to protect his gambling mo-
nopoly from its just and equitable share of
the burden Of taxation our impoverished and
sorely pressed community are called upon to
pay.
Ii Mr.. Morris petition for an injunction be
granted this singular and disgraceful spec
tacle will be presented to the public: The
property holders, rich and poor, will be re-
quired to pay their burthensome taxes: the
merchant, the lawyer, the artist, the mechan-
ic, the publisher, will be required to pay their
licenses; real estate, personal property, brains,
honest labor and legitimate enterprise will
all be required to contribute to the support
OF our expensive and cumbersome govern
ment and to the payment of the public debt,
while Mr. John A. Morris gambling monopo-
ly, which is fleeing the country out of hum
dreds of thousands of dollars per annum, and
which bought up the late Legislature to de-
feat the people and all measures of real re-
form, will go scot free and escape with its
contemplate contribution to the educational
fund or the Charity Hospital.
This case we believe, is fixed for to-day
We advise Judge Billings to recuse himself
IT is a well known fact that before his ap-