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

there" (Laughter.) So that the amour
of money which goes into the State treas
ury is the copper for the heather and til
dollar is the rich plum which the gamble
gets in order to get the copper from til
pockets of the people into the government
(Applause.) These then are economical
reasons, which are conclusive in them
selves. g Askss.s544S
The second reason is one drawn from
the
CHARACTER OF THIS GRANT ITSELF
This grant, my friends, proposes to estab
lish in this State a corporation with a cap
ital stock of $5,ooo,OO0, and proposes t,
give that corporation with capital stool
of $5,00O,O00 the exclusive right to draw
lotteries and frame lottery schemes in thi
State for twenty-five years. This corpora
ton of course, is to be composed of Nor
ris and his friends. Now, YOU woult
expect that when proposition of thi.
magnitude came before the people that i
would contain some checks and balances
that it would be surrounded by some safe
guards; that this great, powerful corpora
ton with capital stock of 5000 900 would
be screwed down somewhere; that there
would be some handle tied to it by which
the people and the public could hold it
that there would be some penalties on il
for misconduct; that there would not be
an absolute surrender of the whole police
power of the State, but that the State
would undertake to obtain some regulative
authority over this concern. My friends
you do not find and will not find ANYTHING
of that sort in this grant 1t is a naked
absolute, overwhelming grant of author.
ity over the whole subject of lotteries to
this man Morris and his associates and
his s5,0O0,0OO corporation for twenty-five
years.
Now, | want to show you the powers
contained in that grant. / will call your
attention to some of the amendments of
the people and which the lottery senators
voted down.
1t was proposed in the Senate to amend
this grant by prohibiting John A. Morris
from using his money to corrupt the peo-
pie to get it passed. Ought it not to have
been SO limited, my friends? Is there any
lottery man within the sound of my voice
who can say that he is in favor of this five
million dollar corporation using money
5 TO CORRUPT THE PEOPLE?
But the lottery Senators did not think SO,
and they voted down that amendment.
Another amendment proposed prohibit
ing this man Morris and his associates
from using money in the politics of this
State in the future. The lottery senators
voted that down. Is there lottery man
in this city or in this State who can say
that he is in favor of erecting in the State
Of Louisiana great corporate power having
a capital stock of $5,OO0,OOO with power to
corrupt the politics of the people in the
future? Another amendment was propos-
ed, that this corporation should give an
account of its doings to the public; that it
should make a report to the governor and
The Legislature, showing who its stock
aolders were, how much money it got, or
now it spent its money, and they voted
that down. Is there any lottery man in
his State who is in favor of putting great
secret corporation here that can keep its
books and papers eand the names Of its
stockholders shut up from the people
where they can not see what they are do
ng with this enormous money power
smong the people? There was another
proposed, that their books and
papers and documents should be
OPEN TO THE INSPECTION
If the grand jury of the parish of Orleans,
he district attorney, the attorney general
md legislative committees. They voted
hat down. They did not want the dis
riot attorney to go over their books. They
lid not want the attorney general to see
what they were doing. They did not want
legislative committees poking around their
Jay rolls. And they voted all these amend
nents down. There was another amend
nent proposed, which had for its object
he destruction of the power of this man
Norris and his associates to continue this
nfamy known as the daily drawing in the
parish of Orleans; an amendment requir-
ng that they should sell no ticket for less
han dollar and that they should have
10 drawing oftener than once month.
rhey voted that down.
l do not believe that you could go
through this State with sitter and find
! lottery man that would dare to stand up
before the people of this State or OF any
,ther State and defend this
INFAMY KNOWN AS THE DAILY DRAWING.
Great applause.) ! challenge the press
md the whole band of lottery orators to
ackle the subject. I propose, if | have
ime tonight, to gibbet that piece of car
ion, and when / get through with it.
lope can say, as Macaulay said of Bar
ere's memoirs, that no man will venture
0 take it down. There was another
proposed which looked to
air division of the profits of this lottery,
which provided that after they had paid
he State $1,250,OOO and taken $1,255,D00
or themselves the State should get one
lalf of the balance of the proceeds. oh,
10! They voted that down. The State
:ould not have any more, although Mr..
Norris got as much and indefinite other
Millions more.
Sc that you see, my friends, that what |
ayHs true, that We have got a naked,
lnrestrained, unlimited grant of power
made to this man and his unknown asso-
iates organized into a corporation with a
apital stock of 5000, COO
There was another amendment, possibly
# more importance than all the others
m amendment providing that for any mis-