Eureka daily sentinel. [volume] (Eureka, Nev.) 1871-1887, 1884-02-08
A ONE-slDED AFFAIR.

- - @-
Winking at a Greater EVIL.
The recent vigorous action taken by the
General Government 10 suppress the traffic
In lottery tickets, has been the cause OF
considerable comment, especially with re-
gard to the long-established Havana Lot
terry and the Louisiana Lottery. The num-
Der Of persons who have been trying their
luck in these schemes has grown to be very
large in the United States. 1t was only
yesterday that a reporter Of the SENTINEL
held q conversation with a w~ell-known and
intelligent Eureka gentleman, who referred
to a dispatch on this subject published in
yesterdays paper. The dispatch contained
an account of the capture by agents of the
Postofice Department of two men in Chi
cago, who were arrested for using the
United States: mails for fraudulent pur-
poses. The gentleman with whom our re-
porter conversed, stated that he had just
received q ticket in the Louisiana Lottery,
and that he was also expecting q ticket
daily in the Havana Lottery. He ex-
pressed himself in very severe terms in
criticism of the action taken by the Gov
eminent authorities, to interfere with what,
in his opinion, has grown up to be, II 1t
has not always been, Q right among the
people.
WHICH Is woRsE2
He says that he believes the patronage
given to the two lottery enterprises named,
which bear an almost unquestioned repu-|
tation for fair dealing, is the least harm
full of all the kinds of gambling that pre-
vail. He drew an apt comparison between
it and faro dealing, and speculation in
stocks; but We will give his argument
with regard to stock speculation only, for
we are not aware OF any way in which the
General Government could place q ~restric-
ton upon faro dealing, as it is an affair
entirely local in the States, and is not III
any name transacted through the mail.
Dealing in stocks, Of course, involves cor
~respondence through the mails as an ele-
ment of the business. On the same prin-
ciple that the Government arrests lottery
agents, and uses mail matter for evidence
against them, it might also interpose to
hinder stock transactions, for instance, by
inspecting the mail, say, between Eureka
and San Francisco.
A RULE FOR THE III EVIL ONLY.
In the case Of stocks, should the Gov
eminent make q law to prohibit it, the
same steps could be taken that are being
resorted to for the suppression OF lottery
schemes. Now" said the gentleman
who complains, (which is worse, dealing
in stocks, or taking chances in q square
lottery? You buy a hundred shares of
stock, and in a majority Of cases, before
you get rid of it, the shares drag you
down and ruin you. As everybody knows,
stock gambling is the most dangerous and
hurtful speculation in the world. The
Government must be in possession Of this
information. Why, then, does it not in
terfere to restrict it, and arrest men for
using the mail for fraudulent purposes,
who write letters on the subject Of buying
and selling mining stocks?
THE MILK IN II cocoANrT.
"Simply because men who control this
part OF the market in speculations are
tremendously rich, and Uncle Sam is
VIGOROUSLY careful about interfering with
those robber chiefs who have plenty of
money. These frauds are fostered by the
powers that be, while stringent laws are
passed to kill off the little fish who have
but slight influence at Washington. 1t is
only an occasional thing for q man to buy
a lottery ticket; and on account of the
very nature of the scheme, there are but
very few who try their luck in it, unless
they can afford it. The game is played at
q great distance. A man tries one bet. so
to speak, and there is quite an interval of
time before he has another chance to in
vest. He puts his SIS ticket away and for
gets all sbout it, perhaps, for months. If
he is lucky he wins, and if he is not he
loses. That's the whole story.
THE PEOPLES CONSCIENCE KEEPER.
1.-THE Government, if 1t be truly a Re-
public or a Democracy, is badly conducted
that interferes with matters of this kind
and attempts to force its people to do what
some crank or set Of cranks may think
is good for the moral health of the
entire community. There is devilish
little liberty in a country in which
the Government makes itself con-
science-keeper for the people, holds
their purse-strings, tells item what they
shall drink, or what they shall eat, maybe,
or in any other way assumes to NEEDLE
with purely personal and domestic con-
Germs. This sort of thing may go down in
Russia, but it is not palatable in this
country. I don't offer any argument for
lottery gambling. Let those who think it
Is bad refrain from it.
WHAT NEXT?
But l don't want the Government Of
the United States to take me by the shout
ders and steer me around. AT the rate we
are travelling now, with prohibition and
Sunday laws and all that, how long will it
be before Congress may pass a law which
will prevent us from drinking coffee, per-
chance, because some goody-goody, or
coterie Of goody-goodies, think the berry
is hurtful to the peoples stomachs
A s.Fire Bug'' skips.