Gold Hill daily news. [volume] (Gold Hill, N.T. [Nev.]) 1863-1882, 1882-03-20

ton OF the plain letter and spirit Of this
provision OF the Constitution. II would
be Q perversion Of the language Of the Com
stitution TO say that the Act is valid.
Respondents, however, contend that the
Constitution docs not prohibit private
lotteries, and Was by Its trainers intended
only to prevent the Legislature from In
volving the State In . system Of public
lotteries as Q means OF raising money for
the service Of the State" or, In other
words, that this constitutional provision
only intended % . Limitation Of power
10 prevent the State, Is . State, from en-
gaging In public lotteries for tho purpose
OF raising meant for the general revenue
Of the State. Hence they claim that the
State has tho right to authorize private
parties to conduct and carry on Q lottery
Of the character specified in the informs.
ton.
In support OF this position they refer to
tho debates Of the Constitutional Conven-
ton In California upon the adoption OF Q
provision In the Constitution Of that State
Identical with ours. II IL not claimed
that these debates have the weight Of Q
Judicial decision, but that IL IL proper to
examine them in case Of doubt a. to the
intention Of the trainers Of the Constitu-
ton. The remarks Of the different mem.
bers shed but little light upon the real
question at issue. They are - much In
favor Of the position taken by the Attorney
General as they are In favor Of the respon-
dents. The debates show that the Consti-
tuition OF New York was referred to In
discussing the provision that was adopted
In California. Mr.. Halleok, who was in
favor Of the adoption Of tho lottery pro-
vision, In the course Of his argument,
said : "In nearly all the new Constitu.
tons you will find this clause. II was not
contained In tho old Constitution, but In
most cases, whero they have been
amended, II has been introduced. In the
old Constitution Of New York, to which
reference has been made In the course Of
debate. no prohibition wa inserted.
Many gentlemen present would remember
the famous case Of Yates and Mcintyre,
which involved not only individuals Of the
State In ruin, but was the occasion Of 20.
rious embarrassment TO the State Govern.
ment itself. The result 30 clearly estab-
lished the evils Of the lottery system that
the Convention OF New York, In 1886, In.
serted o clause In tho very first article Of
tho now Constitution Isee Section l0l
prohibiting lotteries and the sale Of lot.
terry tickets. It appeared to him .
that this prohibition was one OF tho best
that could DO inserted In tho article limit.
ing the powers Of the Legislature"
The language Of the 10th Section OF Ar
ticle I Of the Constitution Of 1886. refer
red to by Mr.. Hslleck Is a. follows : 'Nor
shall any lottery hereafter DO authorized
or any sale Of lottery tickets allowed with
In this State"
In the Governors Of the Almshouso vs..
American Art Union, supra, II wal con.
tended by Charles O'Connor, counsel for
the Art Union, a. 10 10 here, that the Con.
s~titution wa only intended 10 prevent the
mischievous practice Of raising . revenue
by public lotteries, which had been for
many years In full vigor both In England
and In this country, and that the prohibi.
tions Of the Constitution were only directed
against this particular evil. He referred
to the fact. as do counsel here, that ''from
1909 to 1924 public lotteries were author.
lied at every session OF Parliament" He
also referred to tho debates Of the Consti-
tutional Convention Of 1921, for the pur.
pose Of showing that " public lotteries for
pecuniary prizes Is . means Of raising
revenue were slone within the contempla-
ton OF that body"
Tho Constitution OF 1921 Is In these
words: "No lottery shall hereafter DO
authorized In this State, and the Legis.
laturo shall pass laws to prevent the sale Of
all lottery tickets within this State except
In lotteries already provided for by law"
The Court Of Appeals In referring to this
Constitution, which II declared to be sub
stantially tho same as tho Constitution OF
1876, said: "This prohibition is general.
II must DO held to embrace all lotteries,
unless there be some very clever and salts.
factory reason for understanding II In Q
moro limited sense. It was urged upon
the argument that public lotteries for Pc
cuniary prizes as Q means Of raising row.
enuo were alone within the contemplation
Of the trainers Of tho Constitution. But
lotteries have never been created within
this State for the purpose Of general rev.
enue. and there is therefore no ground for
believing that the prohibition wal In.
tended to DO limited to lotteries 10. that
object. This would have been restraining
Q mischief which did not exist, and toler.
ating that which did. Lotteries had been
authorized by the Legislature for the bene.
ut Of colleges, for the making Of roads, for
the building Of bridges, for the improve
ment Of ferries. for tho erection Of hos.
pitfalls, and for various other purposes
equally oommendable aud beneficial. All
these were clearly within the prohibition.
The prohibition was not aimed ut the OBJ.
jects for which lotteries had been author.
lied, but at that particular mode Of accom-.
plishing such objects. II was founded on
the moral principle that evil should not DO
done that good might follow, and upon the
moro cogent practical reason that the evil
consequent on this pernicious kind OF
gambling greatly overbalanced In the
aggregate any good likely to result from
1t. The promotion Of the fine arts 10 I'M
doubtedly Q c~ommendable object, but tho
contains no exception In Its
favor on that ground. =
The intention Of the trainers OF tho Con.
stitution undoubtedly was to forbid the
granting Of any such lotteries as
had at any time previously been author
lied by law. aud by requiring tho Legis.
lature TO pass laws TO prevent tho sale OF
all lottery tickets, to put an end to all
such distributions Of money or goods by
lot or chance a. had heretofore been for.
hidden by statute under the name OF
lotteries"
The argument that tho words by this
State" were inserted for tho purpose OF
preventing tho Legislature from authorize
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