St. Landry democrat., 1891-01-24
Sins and Sinners.
Baton Rouge Advocate.

In the New Delta of Jau. 1, Rev. A.
w. Hartsfeld, of Arcadia, publishes a
communication headed, 1.-The Baton
Rouge Advocate and Hon. n. w. war
rem" in which he comments on an edl-
torial in this paper, wherein we TOOK oc-
casiOn to call attention to the TACT that
Mr.. Warren, as a member OF the Legls-
lature. voted for certain measures which
were more inQuitous than the lottery
embodied in the license law, which fl
naIly passed the House with concurrence
IN the Senate amendments, on July s,
and we find Hon. N. w. Warren then
voting in the affirmative, although
there were nine negative votes. One of
the items in the license law, for which
Mr.. Warren voted, reads as follows:
That for every business of barroom,
cabaret, cafe, beer saloon, liquor eX-
change, drinking saloon, grog- shop,
beer house, beer garden, or other place
where anything to be drank or eaten is
sold, etc.
The stipulated license ranges from
$4,000 down to $1,000 year, in nine
Ggular graditiOnS, according to the an
iiaal sales of such establishments, and
t:e State thus "sold its honor" with
Tie consent of nearly all the members
OF the House, for a price known To be
lass than is required to pay tor the
crimes that grow out of the traffic there
10y legalized.
The other item reads as follows:
That for any place where the cancan,
c.OdOche or other similar female dane
ing or sensation performance or statua-
~ exhibitions are shGwn, or any other
liked place for either theatrical, musical ,
minstrel, concert, dancing or variety
performance, exhibition, amusement OF
show, the license shall be $4,000 in cities
with population of more than $4,000,
and in cities and towns with less pOpu-
lation the license shall be $4,000.
This item gave the seal and stamp of
the States consent to the Haunting of IA
sin that drags down ahe souls of youth
to hell by the most depraved and degra-
died methods, and for a revenue that is
utterly insignificant.
BY most singular coincidence this
bill was signed by Gov. Francis L.
Nichols on the 9th Of July, the very day
when he sent his vote message Oh the
lottery revenue amendment back to the
House with two columns of Indignant
protest against the proposition to sub
init that measure to d vote of the people
of Louisiana. In that message, the pen
which was then just reeking with low
slance houses and liquor dens, dipped
its nib in the pearly fountain of virtu-
Gus wrath and wrote:
At no time and under no circumstan-
ces will permit one of MY hands to aid
IN degrading what the other was lost in
seeking to uphold-the honor of my ma
tive State. Were to atfix my signature
to the bill, (meaning the reven ue amend
ment to the State constitution, and not
the bill licensing low dance houses and
Infamous liquor dens), | would be
ashamed to let my left hand know what
my right hand had done.
But to return from this depression.
The point made in the Warren case is
that he was dismissed from the ministry
and church for an OHtnse of less magni-
tude, viewed from strictly moral stand
Eoint, than two others lie had commit
ted, of which no notice was taken. We
do not censure Mr.. Warren for any of
these votes. Like a sensible man he
took the world as he found it, and dealt
with it accordingly. Our protest is
simply against the inconsistent attitude
of his brethren of the Baptist church in
singing out one sin for exemplary pun
ishment when two others still graver
had been committed. III our opinion
the lottery is d benson compared to the
evils of the liquor traffic and does not
degrade it's votaries like the low dance
houses of the slums of cities. The whole
truth of the matter is, as stated by the
Advocate in its first comments on the
subject, that the fashion now is to fight
the lottery amendment and let other
4sius flourish as they may under protec-
ton of the State. The liquor shops, the
gambling houses, the painted Jezebels
that lure unwary youth to ruin, the
many snares that beset the human soul
mt every turn may be forgiven, and the
almost harmless turn of the lottery
wheel is the only public sin in the poll
tical church calendar.