St. Landry clarion. (Opelousas, La.) 1890-1921, 1892-01-23
TRYING TO BRIBE A STATE.
From New York World.

From New York World.
4 There is to be State election in Louis
/ lana next April, and the chief issue in the
canvass that will soon be under way is the
4 constitutional amendment which provides
for renewal of the charter of the Louis
lana Lottery Company for a period OF
twenty-five years 1t is a strange thing to
see the people of a proud commonwealth
dividing upon the question whether they
| will give an infamous and pernicious
/ gambling concern the sanction of con-
tract with the State for mutual profit.
Public sentimentin in Louisiana is already
sadly debauched by the operations of the
lottery in New Orleans since 1868, but if
the naked proposition were presented of
| renewing the charter of the company by
/ law or by constitutional amendment there
/ is no doubt that it would be defeated.
/ The company has acquired much influence
and would not seruple to use corrupt
means to affect the action of the Legisla-
ture and OF the voters, but it would not
| hope to prevail but for the enormous bribe
which it offers to the State itself in the
contract which the people are asked to
ratify.
The lottery was one of the infamous
creations of the Reconstruction" govern
ment of Louisiana in 1863 and the new
constitution, adopted in 1879, decreed that
all such institutions should cease to exist
after the expiration of its charter in 1888
AS the time of its doom drew near, the
company set to work, not merely to get rid
of the prohibition, but to secure in the
constitution an actual contract with the
State for new lease of life. and it offered
to pay into the public treasury the annual
sum of $l,25o,600 for twenty-five wears.
To make this huge bribe more enticing,
the purposes for which the revenue should
be used are specified. To the people who
live in the dread of the overfows of the
Mississippi, the prospect is held out of an
annual expenditure of $350000 for levees.
Another $3.50 ,0oo is to go to the support of
public schools, $l50,000 for the support of
public charities, $4,000 for pensions to
Confederate veterans, 100000 for improv-
ing the drainage of the city of New Or
leans, and $250,000 is to be turned over to
the general fund of the State Here is an
appeal to sordid sentiment craftily de-
signed to secure support from all classes
of citizens who desire the benefit of the
expenditure of these sums without having
to contribute directly to them by taxation
and this is the chief reliance of the lot
terry company for obtaining support for its
scheme. Nobody can defend the lottery
itself as an institution, or deny the injury
that is done by its operation, and all argu-
ments for the constitutional amendment
are based upon the public benefits to be
derived from its corruption fund
This puts the State of Louisiana in a
humiliating position, which should make
it. If it yields to the vile enticement. the
seorn of all civilized people. 1t has of
late taken pride in its growing prosperity
and Its hopeful prospects. 1t is amply
able to provide from the resources of its
people, contributed by honorable taxation,
Tor the support OF its schools, its eharita-
BILE institutions, its public works and It's
general administration, and the character
ands self-respect of its people would be
fostered by reliance upon their public |
spirit and patriotism for the maintenance
of all public interests. And vet the organs
OF public opinion are STOPPING to the grove
ling pretense that the State can not carry
on its government without accepting aid |
from gambling concern that draws its |
revenues from the weakness and vicious
cupidity of the people This would be
sufficiently degrading if the lottery were |
regarded as an agency for drawing money
by such vile means from the people of the |
State who were to enjoy the supposed |
benefit, but the lowest depth of depraved |
moral sense is reached when it is argued |
that by this infamous device the State OF |
Louisiana will be able to draw large |
share OF its revenues from the people of
the rest of the country by pandering to |
the gambling spirit and playing upon the
hopes OF the poor, the ignorant, and the I
reckless throughout the land. Nothing |
could be more shameless than the avowal |
lnVolVed IN these arguments, and yet they
are used by nearly all the newspapers of |
the State by public men of both parties, /
and by. citizens who deem themselves res
pectable
The contest against the lottery is carried |
on chiefly. by the Anti-lottery League,
which has been foced to establish a news
paper OF its own in New Orleans in order
to reach the people with its appeals and /
arguments, SO thoroughly has the press
been subsidized by the corrupting concern. /
There is hope of arraying the great mass
OF respectable and thinking people against I
the insidious evil that MANAGES the State, /
but there is a large ignorant and venal |
element in the body polite upon which /
the lottery company will work with all its
power. The sentiment of the country at I
large is undoubtedly strong against the
lottery and all its works, but it is to be
feared that it can not exert any great in
tluenee upon the action of the people of I
Louisiana in this matter 1t might, per-
haps, by its unanimous voice shame that
State into an appreciation of the degrad-
ing position it is in danger of taking
among the Commonwealths of this Union,
and awaken some sense of self-respeet
Now is the time to subscribe to the