St. Landry democrat., 1891-07-11
ChataignieT.

July y, 1871.
The Christ ophcr Columbus of public school
teachers in this section hOistcd the stars and
strpes high III the air over the sch00l mouse
last Saturday, to celebrate the 4tb; anh alter
decorating the inside OF the building she n
vitcd the patrons to attend TO near tlcif chil,
dren read the declaration OF independence and
make their little speeches.
Chataignier, am told had never seen 4th
of July flag before. Some OF the ptSSclS-hy
took il for an invocation to Neptune; ana sure
enough, it began to rain in the evening, riulrl
all night and all Sunday. 1t is the hrst SooIt
rain since February Is. Five miles north OF
here, and extending up into VINE Piatc ana
old Grand prarles, the crops are utterly lost |
am told but do not think that those people
cultivate the soil with as much aSslduity Us
our farmers.
There IS to be an anti-lOttcrv meeting here,
next Sunday. Now suppose that the pro i Iot l.,
meeting, what shall | do! | am really and
truly, anti; but have many good friends VII"
are pros. / shall be Obliged to do like Iickwick
-4~ and his friends at the EatOnsvlIlc elections,
shout with the biggest crowd; and this brings
out politics again, which find really "StlaVI-
ter in modo scd tortlter III re-. Ihc author OF
the declaration of independence to treat me
thus!
Well, time plays strange vagarcs. Who
would have thought that Thomas jefferson g
shade would have come into my nlas5-lnectlng
last week. and burst it up with his tWa,idic
about blowing up dogs and saving states, He-
gtieScUt in l)dce old fellow; peace to your ashes.
But rest assured will have nothing more to
do with mass meetings, but / will continue the
session Of the standing cOmmltte Of one, so long
as nv legs can sustain the burden; further
more I have gotten a taste OF the pOliti-
cal pie, and intend to dip III 50 long as there
Is any in the dish.
In the first place, will take hold OF the lot
terry and pluck it until it is as bare as Il baked
turkey on Easter Sunday.
They offer us 81, 25O,00O. Well I'm agreeable
I can't say any thing faircr than that, can [ {?
AS sancho says, never look gift horse in the
mouth; and when they give you heifCr, make
haste with the rope to lead her home.
Now as to the gambling feature Of the lottery
am not learned i'll such matters, but know
that the anclentS represented fortune as blind
goddess turning wheel | suppo that now
IL days, she would be represented riding Il hi
CYCLE and an immense amount OF national cur
rency rolled around each spoke, which fly of,
$40 at this mans door, $40 at another, Sl0C at Il
third &c. She has never passed my door yet ;
nor has she favored you with a call my friend
Judging from your dress, which like my own
coat is q little tnc worse for wear; besides, Il
portion of it is several sizes too small. You
and can say what Goldsmith said of his muse
The fact is that the average farmer will give
man more to hoe row of cotton than he will
pay for q years subscription to our paper.
suspect that great many of our sturdy farm
ers cannot read but let that matter rest, it
will out in the Ducking, and let us return to
the lottery. There are but two legitimate ways
of acquiring property, one is by returning
just and fair equivalent for lt-a Iutd pro quo
and the other Is by free gift all other methods
are gambling, Or worse. In LcVItlCuS We read
that the Israelites caught goat from the flock
once every year, and after loading it with the
Sins of the 10 tribes, they would run it Off into
the woods, and scare 1t so that it never came
back and they called him the scape goat.
just now we are making a scape goat OF sthe
La. lottery next spring, we will sent it bleat-
ing into the wilderness with all of our sins
loaded on its back; and then we will look
around for another scape goat. Look out, In
surance Co.'S, your turn Will come next; al
though you are chartered by all the states, and
considered indispensable to successful com
merce your form of gambling is almost identi-
cal with that OF the lottery. Let us see, says
the blind man. IgiVeyou acertain sum of money,
monthly or yearly, for the sake of getting re-
paid for my building should it be destroyed.
In case it is destroyed, and you pay me its
value, what equivalent do / give you for that
not burn, what equivalent do you give Inc for
my yearly payments! feeling of security,
YOU answer, which Is worth many times more
than the money you have paid us. That is all
Dosll you cannot estimate moral feeling by
dollars and cents. The fact is | continue pay
ing you this yearly stipend year after year.
/ die at last, and have no further use for the
house nor the money. However you cannot
prove to the satisfaction Of my children that
you returned me an equivalent Now, il you
had insured me a scat i'll Heaven, near the
Eternal throne, or next to the least of the
Angels -.
Now that we have defeated that monster of
iniluity, the La. Lottery, which | look upon us
already done, what shall we do with the Mex
lean, the Havana, and the hydra heads of the
dragon, that will no doubt sell as many tickets, |
and take the money out of the country Why, |
we will pass penal statutes against them, and
they will have to hide in blind alleys and back |
doors to sell their tickets and instead of selling
one for S. they will sell it for $40, and instead
OF taking 81 100000, out of the country they |
will take two millions
AGRlCoLA.