St. Landry democrat., 1892-02-13
1ER. MORRIS vVgTHDRAWs HIS
PROPOSITaON.
s31,5OO,OOO Lost to the state.


, panation Of the relations of MIR. John /
Morris to the people of Louisiana in come
. ton with the revenue ameudnent is Que
, the most important papers bearing upon I'll
] development and prosperity OF the Stat
that has ever boon penncd.
In their general distress and misfortune
, resulting from war, peslilence and houd,
helping hand, succor laden, had been furtl
ltousIy stretched out to the people, but t
subserve personal ambition this has bee
dashed aside
, However, the people are brave and of e,
during quality, aud though the day of th
assured well being Of the masses must ueces
sarly be long postponed, they will struggl
on. Providence averting future disaster. aut
sending them good crops, they will in tim
effect the much-needed improvement in th
States internal affairs:
MIR. MORRIS WITHDRAWAL.
TO The Peopte of The State of Louisiana: |,
the spring of 1888 was at different times ap
preached by number of prominent Demo
Gratis of Louisiana who urged upon ms the
proprlety, i'll the interest OF the finances OF
the ate, of submitting to the Legislature Il
proposition for d constitutional amenmen ut
which would grant to me and and my asso.
crates lottery privilege for twenty five
years IN consideration of IA license sufficient v
high to be of material assis tance to the State.
1t was urged upon me by these gentlemen
that my associates and | should hc willing
to give to the people of Louisiana. an oppor-
tunIty OF obtaining, proportionatey. as great
material benefit from the proposed charter
as the holders of the existing charter have
| obtained from the current one
| was assured, moreover, that The prODOsl-
| ton would meet with little, ii any, opposition
| under such conditions, for the opposition to the
present charter was said to be based mainly
| upon the fact that the amount of license paid
! was entirely inadequate in the light of the
! needs OF the people to the prevention of
! increased taxation, Or to the reduction of the
| present taxation 10y providing for charit ies
| schools levecs, etc.
These suggestions prompted mo to all
nonnce to the people Of the State of Louisiana
| that would apply for such charter, aud
would give the sum of $500 900 per annum as u
| license tax. Until [ announced that | would
make such proposition to the State, there
had been no opposition manifested toward
the continued existence of a lottery in Lou
isiana.
After had publicly submitted my offer to
the people, and bad committed myself to its
terms, to my surprise some of the prominent
men who had approached ME on this subject,
ana who had urged Inc to make such prop
osltlon, became opponents of the project and
aided in organizing public hostility against it.
AT the solicitation of q number Of gentle
men who still favor the proposition aud
whose property had suffered from ovelfows
OF the Mississippi river, | increased the
amount that had originally offered to pay
as license tax. This latter amount was in
creased still further by the Legislature to
Sl,2oO,OOO per annum, and in this condition
the amendment was ordered to be submit
ted to the people by the requisite twothirds
vote OF each branch of the Legislature.
Then began 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 making the management Of u lottery as Oh
]ectlonab!e to the people of the United
States as possible. The fact that the 81. 250.-
VoO per alInuin license tax, which was to he
paid 10 the State of Louisiana, would be de-
rived from ii business which would come
from other States and foreign countries,
brought about the enactment by Congress of
what is now commonly known as the "anti-
lottery postal law
1t Was charged at all times that it was my
obJect to have the revenue amendment pass
ed by negro votes against the wishes and de-
slres OF a mRjority of the white people of the
State OF Louisiana, yet, on all occasions, |
had strongly urged that the amenJmen
should be submitted to the white people at
primary election, SO that they could pass
upon the question whether they wanted the
amendment adopted or not as l had no de-
sire to be connected with the proposition nu-
less 1t received the approval of decisive ma
Jorlty OF the white people of the State Of Lou
isiana.
AAtCi 'ho passage NY Congress OF the anti
lottery postal law was Informed by num-
Der OF eminent and able attorneys, whom |
consulted, that this law was a violation of
the rights of the State, and of the freedom of
the press, and such would be- in their opinion,
the decision Of the Suprme Court of the Unit
ed States.
Accordingly test cases on the question were
made up and submitted to that court for de-
termination. From the institution of the test
cases until now the opposition to the revenue
amendment has intensified i'll its bitterness.
RealHng thoroughly, my associates and !,
that we have been incorrect in our opinion of
public sentiment on this question of a new
charter, and not desiring to see the people of
the State of Louisiana involved in STRIFE over
this question, hereby declare upon my part,
and on the part of my associates, that we
would not accept or qualify under the present
people at the general election of April 1892
AS the Supreme Court of the United States
has decided the Anti-Lottery postal law to be
constitutional, 1t is my purpose and tbut of
my associates to respect that law, and all
stain from violating it in any manner.
Our offer was prompted as much by de- !
sire to benefit the people of the State of Lou
isiana, as by the prospect of profit to our
selves from the grant as Il business PROPOSE |
ton. My associates and are closely identi-
fled with the interests of the people of Lou
isiana, as we own much property within the |
Convinced that the granting of another lot
terry charter in the State would be the cause of |
continued agitation and discomfort upon the |
part of d number of the citizens of Louisiana |
for the entire period for which such q charter |
might be granted, we would be unwilling to |
accept such charter, even though it were I
given to us without the payment OF one dol |
lar license tax. JOHN A. MORRIS.
Hon. Robert 2. Hunter, of Rapides, |
has not produced any evidence in reply
to the published challenge for proofs, |
and which he intimated were so readily
obtainable, to show that the Lottery
Company contributed to the McEnery |
fund at the same time that it
gave Gov. Nichols $4,000 to "call off |
the dogs of war" and keep silence as to
the lottery in the platform of 1888. The
McEnery campaign managers reaffirm
that not one dollar was contributed by !
the lottery to the McEnery cause, and
very broadly insinuate that the authors
of the SANDER are aware of its falsity.-
n. O. City Item.
The Mansfield Journal says: "The
papers express great fears of
being counted out in the general cleo
ton" Not so in DeSoto, neigbbor. We
propose to demand representation at
every voting precinct, and il We are re-
fused, then we propose tOput men there
to see that we have free vote and a
Democrat.
We obtain patents for protection, not
for ornament. Send for our valuable |
pamphlet. Dubois and Dubois, Inyen-
tive Age Building, Washington d. G.