St. Landry clarion. (Opelousas, La.) 1890-1921, 1891-10-24

payment we must deduct 5000 paid to each
OF the commissioners, and, perhaps, some
5000 at the outside for advertising. We
may add another sum Of $5O0O forincident-
al expenses, machinery, sums paid to
agents as commission on the sale of tick
cts, and SO forth. This leaves $4,000
monthly if all the tickets are sold. And as
the lottery is Incorporated by the State
Legislature of Louisiana for charitable and
educational purposes, we may suppose that
certain portion of the sum paid in month
ly will be set aside to represent the pro-
ceeds Of the concern, and justify the use of
SO degrading method of obtaining money.
Probably it may be supposed that "a per
cent per annum, or 2 per cent per month,
would be a fair return in this way, the sys-
tenn being entirely free from risk. This
would amount to $500, or say $4,000
monthly Those who manage the lottery
are not content, however, with any such
sum as this, which would leave $4,000 to
be distributed in prizes. They distribute
$215,OO0 less, the total amount given in
prizes amounting to only $265,00O. II the
100000 tickets are all sold-and it is said
that very few are left-the monthly profit
on the transaction is not less than $265, 900,
or As per cent on the total amount received
per month. This would correspond to $40
per cent per annum if it were paid on
capital of $4,000. But tin reality itamounts
to much more, as the lottery company
runs no risk whatever. The Louisiana Lot
terry is 3.:sss - A
GROSS swINDLE,
besides being disreputable in the sense in
which all lotteries are so. What would be
thought if man held an open lottery, to
which each of one hundred persons admit
ted paid $5, and taking the sum Of $500
thus collected, were to say:
"The lottery, gentlemen gamblers, will
now proceed: 1865 of the sum before me
i will distribute in prizes, as follows tin
dicating the number of prizes and their
several amounts: the rest this sum of
$235, which have here separated, l will
put into my own pocket (suiting the action
to the word) for my trouble in getting up
this lottery The Louisiana Lotterysis a
transaction Of the same rascally type-not
rendered more respectable by being on
very much larger SCALE"
Now, my friends, when that was written
they were small thieves. They only un-
dertook to sell $4,000 of tickets month
and they only undertook to steal out of it
$e45, 600, but they have gotten bigger since
then and Nave become grand thieves. They
propose to sell in tickets monthly $1,000
600 and semi-annually 100000, making
an aggregate of $28,O00yO00 a year that they
propose to sell in tickets to the people Of
the United States; and If they were to sell
those twenty-eight millions of tickets how
much gross profit, according to their own
thieving lottery schemes, would they make?
Why, my friends, they would putinto their
own pockets over $4,000 900 a year, because
they only distributed In their prizes fifty
two per cent, or a little over fifty-two, and
keep forty-eight, or nearly forty-eight per
cent, for themselves. In other words, out
of every dollar which you take to the lot
terry company that company gives you back
50 per cent and keeps 48 per cent.
That is the way, my friends, that lot
terry makes money. by selling q certain
number Of tickets at certain price and
out OF the money derived from the sale Of
tickets to distribute certain sum In
prizes.
AN HONEST LOTTERY,
one regulated by government, one estab-
lished by law, is required to distribute at
least 80 per cent in prizes-some OF the lot
teries distribute more than that; but such
a thing as distributing only fifty-two andsa
fraction per cent was never heard of on
the face Of the earth. make the asser-
lion, without fear Of contradiction, that
there is not on the face Of this earth tin
horn gambler, there is no three-card monte
there is no thimble rigger, there
is no brace game played in the slums Of
any disreputable quarter of any city that
ever undertook to filch from its patrons
such percentage as the Louisiana Lottery
Company boldly takes from its ticket buy
ers (Applause.) Idefy the lottery peo-
pie to parallel their scheme anywhere on
the face of the earth. defy its compa-
rison with the lotteries heretofore author
ized in this country and those established
in the present or in the past in Europe.
And, yet, this is what you brave and hon.
est people of Louisiana are asked to swal-
low. esses's5T3ss
This man Morris and his associates have
been running this thieving game for more
than twenty years, and now the people of
Louisiana are asked to make to the same
gang an unlimited, unrestrained, uncop-
trolled and uncomfortable grant Of power
20 that they may continue it in this rascal
ly way for twenty-five years more. "a
voice: "He will improve on its rascal
ity.'D
Another thing about this grant Even
the radical black-and-tan Legislature in
1868, which granted the present lottery
charter was decent enough to provide that
the lottery schemes prepared should be
lair and the drawings honest. The new
grant does not contain any such check, and
therefore I adopt the suggestion of my
friend, that he will improve on this scheme
md steal an additional percentage out
# it.
But the monthly drawing is an elysium
md shining example OF purity compared
With
THE DAILY DRAWING
l do not mean the printed ticket scheme,
because that is small percentage better
han the monthly, but refer to written
tickets issued by the policy shops
The ample storehouse OF the Saxon
T--r N~.gl i n