St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1891-07-11
OPENING THE CAMPAIGN.

Referring to the opening Of the
Anti-Lottery campaign at the
Grand Opera House. in New Or.
leans, Gen. Leon Jastremski, the
veteran editor OF Louisiana Review,
refers to the question at issue az
follows:
The question is the most import
ant that has been submitted to the
people OF Louisiana since secession.
In its decision, under tho extrane-
Gus circumstances by which it has
been surrounded, are involved more
points than the mere acceptance or
rejection OF the proffer of . vast
annual revenue, which our over
taxed ard inadequate;y cared for
State and metropolis visibly need.
There is involved the right Of q
people Of State To regulate their
internal affairs according to their
established customs aud IDEAS
right which has again been assailed
by an OdiOus interference with the
mails, a al the creation OF q system
Of espionage wholly repugnant to
the spirit of our free institutions
This. at the instigation of the Anti
Lotteryites Of our State.
There is also involved the right
Of the free American citizen to buy
lottery tickets, attend races and
theaters, and generally tn enjoy
life Is it suits his tastes to do, pro-
vided he does not incommode his
neighhOr. In other words, there
is to be settled the question wheth-
er the people OF this State are, vir-
tuaIly, to remit their liberties to- q
combination Of politicians, church,
men and self-constituted moralists
who, to-day, wish to strike down
this right, AMI who. tomorrow, will
demand the abridgement OF ssome
other, heretofore enjoyed by the
people. In brief. the sham of pro-
hibition is to be injected in our
government, or rejected.
Lastly, and we say it with re-
greet, we are again to behold the in
reference of the pulpit in public
affairs-an interference that the
spirit of the organic law Of the land
rlghtfully holds to be dangerous to
the liberties Of the people, and pro-
ductive Of far greater harm than
good, as the history Of every coun-
try under the sun teaches.
Lotteries are nothing new in
Louisiana, and they date back
through her reputed best days,
when her manhoOd-than which
there will never exist . nobler type
the utmost personal lib
eTty.
We are tn put q stigma upon
that past, ana venture upon the ex-
pertinent o: regulating the conduct
Of the citizen by prohibitory laws.
These are some OF the issues in
volved in ths campaign.
1t used to be said in the old
Solid South that Puritanism and
other islns were indigenous to New
But for these past thirty
years the waves of sectiOnalism,
puritauism and other isms have
been lasliug the old South serious
~. Under the strain, many of the |
political rights it once enjoyed have |
been swept away, and the isms that
the tempests have hurled upon her |
soil have taken root. To-day some |
Of our own people would inaugurale
paternal government over them
selves and their fellow-citizens-a
predicated upon the
idea that the average man is inca
pable Of regulating his Conduct;
hence, that those who arrogate to
superior wisdom aud
Glrtue. should devise laws to COM
pei everybody to pattern after
hem. Who can successfully main.
ain that such theory is compati-
de with the principles Of self-gov-
.rnment and Of individual liberty?
We had rather suffer from too
much liberty than to thrive under
restrictions. We are for freedom.