The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1891-12-19
THE LOUISIANA LOTTERY,

The friends Of ne Louisiana lottery
have captured the machinery of the Demo
cratic party in Louisiana and the Anti
Lottery Democracy, seeing that they were
beaten in the election for delegates to the
state convention, have held a convention
and placed an Anti-Lottery ticket in the
field. The Lottery Democracy, who have
captured the machinery of the party, have
nominated the notorious Judge McEnery
for governor, and he probably will be
elected in April next. The Anti-Lottery
party includes the very best men in
Louisiana; General Nichols, the present
governor, and all the clergymen of note
and influence in the state. The lottery
party are likely TO succeed because they
represent an enormous corruption fund,
and because Louisiana contains vast
number of white and black illiterates, who
are not equal morally or intellectually to
any lively appreciation OF the essential
wickedness of the Lottery business. The
New Orleans Delta gives the following
financial exhibit of the concern:
Ten drawings per annum-swo special draw
iDgs.
INCOME
Ten drawings. 100000 tickets at SO
Ten drawings 800 900 tickets a, $40 each sSoSgo
Total. Observation-Disclosures. 90, 600
EXPENSES.
Prizes ten drawings 5,s00o
Prizes. two sem.-annual drawings 4.2Ie'200
Commissions 20 agents 2Ooo.oG0
AoFeFAtIIE - .'..-.-.-..-.-...---- -t1,uOO
other expenses. Observation-Disclosures. 1.O0g.000
-NeE pfoLts $3.50
Total ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. ..2s0lo.oo0
III this exhibit no account is made of the
daily drawings, the exact figures of which are
not obtainable, but they exceed 5000 900 an
nuslly. making the enormous annual income of
100000 twice the sum that was paid
Napoleon By Jefferson, n 1871, for The entire
louisiana purchase.
With these enormous profits the lottery
men can easily afford to offer 81. 800. 600 a
year for a farther twenty-five years extern
sion of their license. The lottery dele
gates from New Orleans were elected by a
majority of 1000. The legislatures Of
every state, save Louisiana. have adopted
anti-lostery laws. Kentucky excludes
lotteries under her new constitution. and
the effort last year 10 introduce lotteries
into North Dakota was defeated. and con-
gress passed law, which went into
effect last year, excluding newspapers con-
tanning lottery advertisements from the
mails, and prohibiting the use Of the
mails for sending tickets, collecting money
and distributing prizes.
The New York Etening Pest points out
that the best way 10 attack the Louisiana
lottery would be by national tax similar
to that which is imposed upon the notes
Of state banks and upon the circulating
scrip Of municipalities, taking care, Of
course, 20 put the tax high enough TO be
prohibitory. Precedents for taxing lot
teries and lottery tickets are abundant
During the war there was license tax on
lottery companies, together with tax on
their gross receipts and q stamp tax on
lottery tickets. \ precedent for making a
tax prohibitory exists in the case OF the
tax on state bank notes. as already men,
toned, which prohibition remains in force
10 this day.
This Louisiana lottery was created by
her carpet bag" legislature Of ISIS, bat
its charter was repealed by the legislature
Of 1879. The constitution Of 1879 author
ICED is resurrection, and in iS90 the lottery
company began 70 move for a new charter
10 replace its old charter that expires in
lssS. A bill was introduced providing for
the submission 70 the people of the state
Of q constitutional amendment, in which
new charter was granted TO the lottery