, 1890-07-31
That the Whole Press of the
Nation Is Venal.
BILL ARP'S IDEA OF LOTTERIES
He Would Stamp Out the Crime
as an Epidemic of Pieuro-
Pneumonia.

\
life, but there is no good reason for
taking chance In the Louisiana
lottery. A man wouldn't think of
such II thing IL he based his chance
on fact and figures, His chance to
draw s. Is about one In q hundred,
and to draw 500 ABOUT one I'm II
thousand, and for the capital prize
one in half million. But he bases
his hopes on good luck or fate, or
destiny, and all this IL founded on
conceit. lie has no clear idea on
the subject, but has IL dreamy super
stition that fate has picked him out
for her favors and will give him II
prize this time.
But figures don't lie, and chances
can be calculated with rs much GER
tainty as the motions of the stars.
The best lecture ever heard In col
lege was from Professor Mccoy on
the regularity of irregular things.
The wheel of fortune is not going to
drop prize to IA man because he
needs 1t, or because of his faith or
his hope or his conceit. was rum
mating over this because / have re-
celved u letter from good, fond,
yearning mother, who wishes mo to
invest 50 for her in the Louisiana
lottery. She had n dream that she
would draw Il prize and this would
enable her to give her only child n
first class education. She Is very
poor, and the letter WIS written
with tears, but / knew that she
would lose that money, and so |
declined her request. The good
spirits don't send dreams that en-
courage lotteries, and bad spirits
would try and make us believe u
lie.
There is a kind of gaming that
never gave me very deep concern.
l mean professional gaming where
the parties all have money and just
swap 1t around--sometimes one has
1t and sometimes another, and no.
body suffers. Then there is the
gaming that is engaged In by the
sporting gentlemen, such as Clay
and Webster, and Breckenridge and
Andrew Jackson. / never con-
sidered that very heinous sin.
There are men who have passion
for gaming. Some men will throw
dice or play crack-a-loo all day for
the love of it. l have known men
who were so fond of betting on
chance that If they saw two birds
sitting ON telegraph wire they
would make u bet as to which bird
would fly away first.
But most of the sports like to mix
skill and Judgment with chance. A
man will bet on horse race and In
this way back his Judgment, and If
he wins he feels good in two ways
one over his Judgment and the other
over his money. Ii he bets ON cards
he has to do some brain work. Mind
and memory are both exercised, and
his success is compliment 10 both;
and, of course, he Is pleased with
himself. If he does not succeed 1t is
easy to lay it on the cards. He
never lays 1t on himself 1t takes u
smart man to play cards. Daniel
Webster, and Clay, and Aleck Ste
vens were good players, and 30 are
most of our notable statesmen. Zeb
Vance, they say. Is skillful per-
former, but Joe Brown does
not play a good card. He
is too slow aud deliberate. These
great statesmen never bet enough to
make anybody rich or poor. l know
gentlemen who play for recreation
and never stake more than dime
at u time. / say gentlemen, for they
are gentlemen, and conduct them
selves honorably i'm all the relations
of life. They would scorn to cheat
anybody or to fleece u lamb. Some
good, old-iashioned people have IA
holy horror of cards. That Is all
right. To him who thinketh 1t IA
sin, | reckon it Is II sin. Professor
Proctor, the great astronomer and
Christian gentleman, was very fond
of cards. He said that IA game of
whist, with congenial friends, was IA
rest to his mind. There is really no
more harm in playing cards
for mental recreation than in play
ing chess or draughts, or backgam-
mon or dominoes. The schoolboy |
begins with games as soon as he
begins the alphabet. He loves to
take his chances. He spits on u
chip and tosses il up as he says, |
"Wet or dry" He throws up a
piece of money and says, "Heads |
or tails.n Children draw straws
for first choice. All this Is harm
less. But when the chance Is u
desperate one and strains the purse
to take 1t the sin begins. 1t en-
couages u desire to get something
for nothing and that Is the curse !
of this generation. The Louisiana
lottery has impoverished thousands
OF young men and kept many a |
workingman poor. 1t Keeps their |
secrets aud their money, and never |
publishes their disappointments.
1t is very kind to them. 1t throws
n halo of rainbow colors around the
few who are fortunate, and this
draws in new victims and invites
the old ones to return. This lottery
offers millions to the state for IA
renewal of its charter, and they say
1t will be renewed. The old
maxim that "every man has his
price" will be realized. The MEM
bers of the Legislature are to be
bought. The lottery runs the state
and the banks and the press and,
some ray, the pulpit.
Lotteries are mark of low civili-
cation. There Is but one left in
the United States, and not long
ago ! read an interesting letter from
Brazil and it stated that almost
everything in that country was run
by lotteries. If the government got
for money 1t set up a lottery.
Roads and canals and churches and
theaters and public charities were
all kept up by lotteries. The peo-
ple were u nation of gamblers. For
many years the French government