St. Landry clarion. (Opelousas, La.) 1890-1921, 1891-10-24
THE LOTTERY "REVENUE AMEND
MENT.'' ..-.

The following is the full text OF tn
speech delivered by Hon. Edgar III. Farra
at the anti-lottery mass meeting in tn
eighth and ninth wards of New Orleans, o.
Tuesday evening, Oct. g.:
Mr.. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen
Feilow-C Citizens of the Eighth and Mint
Wards-I do not think that need any in
PRODUCTION to the people of the ninth ware
Many years of my boyhood were passe
here among you seven years of my maj
ried life were spent here four of my chill
dren were born here, and I think that
have right to speak to you as friend AM
neighbor.
/ do not belong to the Sunday schoo
class of politicians. do not oppose tn
lottery upon sentimental grounds-that is
treating as a sentimental ground the ques
ton of personal morality involved in lot
terry dealing. base my opposition to tn
LOTTERY upon entirely different considera
tions, which considerations | shall detail
to you in few minutes.
| have no time tonight to discuss tht
question of the wealth or poverty of the
State nor to discuss the statistics as tt
levees and public schools, but, before
pass to the main branch of my subject,
do want to drive a nail in the coffin of one
lottery lie that has been paraded in the
papers of this city for some time past.
want to demonstrate from the record that
by the time the lottery money will become
due the people Of the city of New Orleans
without any increase in taxes, and out OF
their own pockets and with their own
honest dollars, will be able to educate
their children and to drain their city; and
/ propose to show where the money will
come from.
The very same Legislature, gentlemen,
which adopted this lottery proposition, al
SO adopted what is known as the city debt
funding bill, and you people and the peo-
pie of this State will be called upon to vote
at the next election in this State, alongside
of the Morris constitutional amendment,
for this city debt funding bill.
Now let me tell you what that is Tl ;
time is coming when the city will have lne
right to
CALL ALL HER BONDS
except the premium bonds; that is, to call
in bonds bearing some per cent, some 6
per cent and some per cent interest. If
the city can reduce the interest on her
public debt to per cent, do you know how
much money she will save? She will save
$171,OOO year. Now the city of New Or
leans is in such financial position that
she can float her per cent bonds. All the
financiers will tell you that the 4 per cent
fifty year bond of the city of New Orleans
win go like hot cakes, and will even be
sold at premium. Now, my friends, this
funding bill not only provides for the fund
ing of $1O,0O0,OOO of city debt into 4 per
cent bond, but it goes further. 1t levies
l per cent tax-same tax that is now levied
--on the property of this city to pay the
interest upon those bonds and to carry the
premium bond plan. That per dent tax
will produce surplus which is es} mated
by the most conservative membe96f the
Board of Liquidation at a minimum of
$250,OO0 year, without any increase in the
future over present taxable values, and
that funding bill provides that the surplus
every year shalln not be taken, as it has been
for the last ten years, to pay the principal
of the debt-that the people who live in
New Orleans now shall not bear the bur
den of this debt which has been accumu-
lating for twenty or thirty years-but that
it shall be distributed over two more gen.
erations. We have paid our share of it,
and that none of this money shall be APP
piled to anything but interest, except,
enough to carry the premium bond plan
and the whole surplus shall go one-half
TO PUBLIC SCHOOLS
and the other half to permanent public inn
provements There is where you are going
to get the money, my friends (Applause.)
! have the honor to be the author of that
scheme, which was adopted by the Board
of Liquidation, adopted by the Legislature,
and am confident will be adopted by the
people.
The increase in the taxable values of this
city has been so great in the last ten years
(something like $3s,OO0,OOo) that 1 per
cent tax, which was barely sufficient to pay
the interest upon the public debt, has,
within the last four or five years, created
an enormous surplus. That surplus has
been spent by the Board of Liquidation in
paying the principal of the public debt.
For instance, in the last four years, since
December, 1887, the Board of Liquidation
has paid $7O3,0Oo of 6 per cent bonds out of
the surplus fund.- and not only have they
paid that $703,OO0, but hold in my hand
the printed report of the affairs of that
board up to the 3Oth of June just passed,
and on the 30th of June they had a surplus
in their possession, with the tax of 1891, on
" partially collected, of S4S5,000. In other
words they had in their possession money
enough to pay the July interest without
collecting the tax of 1891. And that is not
all. There is unpaid taxes of
MILLION AND "A HALF DOLLARS,
which belong to that fund, at least $780,
coo is collectible So that you see that by
means of this p per cent tax, per cent to
support your government and per cent
for debt purposes, you are going to havean
enormous surplus which viii be double
any amount of money which the people of
the city of New Orleans ever expect to get
from the lottery. (Applause.)
This surplus will come year by year after
July /, 1892, as the city progresses with her
debt funding, which will be entirely COM
pleted by Jan. /, 1895, and this large sur
plus will accrue even if the city in all the
future never increases her taxable values
one dollar above the present assessment.
II, in the next ten years, the city grows
n 4 A.. e.. - H.. fl,<,x