St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1890-09-20
The Honor of the State.

i"puiSAA1hA AsJF awe
It il claimed in ceIiaiu quarters that
The honor Of the State is involved in
tho acceptance of The lottery PROPOSE
ton. If that be 40, then nnr people
have been living under stigma for the
past 90 years; the more so since 1877,
when the moneyed assistance OF the
lottery was accepted 10 establish rhc
Nichols government in its fightagaInst
The Packard government. II State Il
disllonored by toIerating lotteries, then
Kentucky, Georgia, New jersey,
Delaware, Maryland. and nearly if not
al. the Older States Of tho Union, have
lost their honor. for, ut varions 1imra,
they have permitted lotterica. 80
have France, Germany, Spain, Italy
aud every other nation.
The Northern States "hosc intcrler.
cnce in this question has heen Invoked
by the anti-lotteryitos, AT the very
moment when a solid South is protest
ing against the Force bill, have no
lovecs to MAINTAIN to protect the best
portions of their territory from over
flow; no debt to cat up their revenues ;
neither are they handicapped with the
dense mass of illiteracy thrust upon us
hy ruinous wa, and IN ora of political
persecution. The Federal government
makes muniiiceDt provision for the
Union veterans, while ours arc nncared
for.
The liquor traffic is pronounced i'm
moral, vet the United States govern
meut derives q revenue Of over one
hundred millions annually from the
traffic, aud our own State Legislature
las seen fit to double the licenses upon
tho same. Let us be consistent. five
are going to refuse revenue from lot
,eries, which arc certainly not more i'm,
moral than the wliskey traffic, let the
knife of latter-day morality cnt ont
the internal revenue tax on tho whiskcy
business.
The lottery has been 10 operation in
Louisiana for the past % years. Yet,
our public morals will bear successful
comparison with those Of any other
State or country. Every people, every
country, have their code Of morality.
Some Of the States which prohibit lot
teries foster divorce and the snDdering
Of the marriage tie. Louisiana does
not, though she has chartered lottery
For many years the American clergy
has been actively engaged in the work
Of injecting religious sentiment into
legislation, aud We have seen the pco,
pie Of nearly every State wrought up
into frenzy on The question Of nroLihi-
ton.
Whenever people are influenced by
religious sentiment, they cease to reason
and to tolerate contrary opinions.
The separation Of Church and State
il one of tho Fundamental principles
Of this government. 1t is the strong
est safeguard to the preservation OF
personal liberty. Hence, the people
should firmly eliminate religious inter-
ference from public affairs.
We say this with duo respect 10 The
clergy. Their mission lies in other
channels.
1T cannot be denied that religious
influences have been unstintingly in
iected into the question at issue, and
that the bOycotting of the press, which
has been suggested in religious assem-
blies, and the violent feeling that pre-.
walls in regard TO this question, are
largely attributable to this influence.
We stand ready to cheerfully acqui
esce in the decision Of the people of
Louisiana, and to bear or. share of the
additional burdens that the rejection
Of the lottery proposition would i'm
pose upon our people. But we eaunot
be made to believe that the honor of
the State is involved in its acceptance,
nor that the question is anything more
than a question of public policy