St. Landry clarion. (Opelousas, La.) 1890-1921, 1892-01-09
TRYING TO BRIBE A STATE.
From New York World.

There is to be a State election in Louis
lana next April, and the chief issue in the
canvass that will soon be under way is the
constitutional amendment which provides
for renewal of the charter of the Louis
lana Lottery Company for a period of
twenty-five years 1t is strange thing to
see the people of a proud commonwealth
dividing upon the question whether they
will give an infamous and pernicious
gam bling concern the sanction of a con-
tract with the State for mutual profit.
Public sentiment 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
aenewing 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 scruple 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 1868, and the new
constitution, adopted in 1879, decreed that
all such institutions should cease to exist
after the expiration of its charter in 1888
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 a new lease of life. and it offered
to pay into the public treasury the annual
sum of $1,250000 for twenty-five years
To make this huge bribe more enticing,
the purposes for which the revenue should
be used are specified. To the people who
d live in the dread of the overfows of the
Mississippi, the prospect is held out of an
annual expenditure of S350000 for levees
Another $350,000 is to go to the support of
public schools $l50000 for the support Of
public charities, $4,000 for pensions to
Confederate veterans, 100000 for improy-
ing the drainage of the city of New Or
leans, and s250000 is to be turned over to
the general fund of the State. Here is an
appeal to sordid sentiment craftlly 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
| it, if it yields to the vile enticement. the
seorn of all civilized people. It 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,
for the support of its schools, its charita-
bic Institutions its public works and its
general administration, and the character
and seIf-respeet of its people would be
fostered by reliance upon their public
spirit and patriotism for the maintenance
I of all public interests And yet 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
Iregarded 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
reckless throughout the land. Nothing
could be more shameless than the avowal
| 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-1ottery League,
| which has been foced to establish 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 eorrupting concern.
There is hope of arraying the great mass
of respectable and thinking people against
! 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 It's
power The sentiment of the country at
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
jsfuenee upon the action OF the people OF
Louisiana in this matter. 1t might, per
| haps, by its unanimous voice shame that
State into an appreciation OF the degrad-
i ing position it is in danger of taking
among the Conmonwealths of this Union
and awaken some sense of self-respeet.
7 Now is the time to subscribe to the