The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1883-11-21
Gen. Ogden and the Lottery Question

The New Orleans States, speaking
Of Gen. Ogden's letter, published in
the Picayune, in which the Louisiana
Lottery figures SO conspicuously, re-
marks:
Gail that our honored and distin-
guished fellow citizen can say of the
Immortality of lotteries we will concur
in, and we shall be ready and ear
nest advocate Of any practicable mes
surcs for their total extinction or for
their most effective government
Up to the Legislature of 1879 Wig
orous and intelligent war was made
for the repeal of the charter which
proved successful-the charter was re-
pealed. But when the Constitutional
Convention assembled and the great
question of the reduction of taxation
without, reducing the revenues of the
State below its expenses, was before
that body, two policies were discussed
first, the reputation of a part of the
debt, or the reduction of the interest
to an almost infnitesmal sum; second,
the restoration of the Lottery charter
and the sale of@other charters as part
of the revenue system of the State.
Gen. Ogden, and a number of other
gentlemen of like high reputation and
unquestioned patriotism, opposed the
scaling of the interest to the extent
that was proposed, and addressed a
letter to the Convention, presented by
Hon. W. A. Robertson, protesting
against it and embodying an enumer-
alton of the sources Of revenue open to
the State, to show that the expenses
Of the Treasury could be met and a
higher rate OF interest paid on the rate
of taxation proposed, and, in this emu
[meration Of the sources of revenue,
these gentlemen included the licenses
from lotteries, bar rooms, etc, $780,
900 per annum. While these gentle
men did not commit themselves to an
advocacy Of lottery dealing, they evil
IDENTIFY Anticipated the adoption of the
lottery license system with the restora-
ton Of the sights of the present COM
pany, and there can be no question
but that their letter, to an exent, infu-
enced majority of the Convention to
adopt the sale of lottery charters as a
part of the revenue system of the State.
When the constitution embodving
this financial scheme was before the
people for ratification, we do not re-
member to have heard one word in any
part Of Louisiana uttered against it,
and it was ratified by practically a
unanimous VOTE"
So it seems from this fact that Gen
eral Ogden, whatever his views may
be now, has not been in the past an
anti-lottery man. At the time that he
could have struck the Louisiana Lot
terry an effective blow, his influence
was not only exerted to maintain that
institution, but to charter other lotte-
ries ad libitum.-Shreveport Standard.
"A SHOCKING tragedy occurred in
Caldwell Parish on Monday of last
week. VIM. Nethery, a young man
IS years old, was working with an old
shot gun, one barrel of which, loaded
with five rifle balls, was accidentally
I discharged. The whole load took ef-
feet in the body Of his mother who was
at the time attending to some domestic
duties in the yard. Two of the balls
lodged in the upper part of the thigh,
and the remaining three took effect
some inches higher in the side. The
unfortunate lady lived until about Z
o'clock Wednesday morning, when
death put an end TO her suffering. She
3lexses = la1Ys flniEy.