The weekly Thibodaux sentinel and journal of the 8th Senatorial District. [volume] (Thibodaux, Lna. [i.e. La.]) 1875-1898, 1892-02-06

1OI AlltI1Sc4l LIN lilo 4ASooSAtsSSS
that They will Not Accept and
Qualify Under the Amendment,
Even # It Be Adopted by the
People.
Mr. John 4. Morris has issued the
following address to the people Of
Louisiana:
New Orleans. Feb. Sd, 1892.
70 thepeople ii the State of Louisiana:
In the spring Of 1883 | was, at differ
ent times, approached hy a number Of
prominent Democrats of Louisiana,
who urged upon me the proprlety, IL
the interest of the finances of the State.
of submitting to the Legislature q pro-
position for 4 Constitutional amend
ment, which would grant to me and
my associates q lottery privilege for
twenty-five years in consideration OF a
license sufficiently high to be Of mate
rial assistance to the State. 1t was
urged upon me b. these gentlemen.
that my associates and | should he
willing to give to the people OF Louis
lana an opportunity Of obtaining, pro
p~ortionately, as great a material bene-
fit from the proposed charter As the
holders Of the existing charter have
obtained from the current one.
| was assured. moreover, that the
proposition would meet with little, il
any, opposition under such conditions.
for the opposition 10 the present char
ter was said to be based mainly upon
the fact that the amount of license
| paid was entirely inadequate il the
light Of the needs Of the people to the
prevention Of increased taxation, or t.
the reduction of present taxation by
| providing for charities, schools, ~leyees,
etc, These suggestions prompted NC
to announce to the people of the State
Of Louisiana that | would apply fol
such a charter, and would give the sum
Of 800, eco per mum as a license tax
Until Lad announced that / would
make such a proposition to the State,
there had been no opposition manifes-
ted toward the continued existence of
IA lottery ii Louisiana.
After | had publicly submitted my
offer to the people. and had committed
myself to its terms, to my surprise
some Of I've prominent men who had
approached me on this subject and who
had urged me to make such a PROPOSE
ton, became opponents to the project,
and aided il organizing public host,li-
ty against il.
Al the solicitation Of a number Of
gentlemen who still favored the pro
position and whose property had sui
fered from overfows Of the Mississippi
river, / increased the amount that |
had originally offered to pay as a llccn-
sc tax for tie privilege Of . new char
ter to 81 COG, 900. This latter amour
was decreased still further by the Leg
~islature to S1,250,OO0 per annum, and
in this condition the amendment was
ordered to be submitted to the pe2pIe
by the requisite two-thirds votes ot
each branch Of the Legislature.
Then began a crusade on the part
Of those opposed to the proposition,
inside and outside Of the State, for the
purpose of preventing the adoption OF
the Revenue Amendment, and of max
ing the management of a lottery as OBJ
jectionable to the people ct United
States as possible. The fact that the
Il. 250, 900 per annum license tax which
was e be paid to the State Of Louisi
ana would be derived from a business
which would Gene from other States
and foreign countries, brought about
the enactment b. Congress Of what il
10 commonly known as the Anti
Lottery Postal Law It was charged
at all times that it was my object to
have the Revenue Amendment passed
by negro votes against the wishes and
desires of . majority of the white peo-