St. Landry clarion. (Opelousas, La.) 1890-1921, 1892-01-02
TRYING TO BRiBE A STATE.
From New York World.

ETUTl NEW iUfh w oIlu.
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 a strange thing to
see the people of proud commonwealth
dividing upon the question whether they
will give an infamous and pernlcious
gambling 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
renewing the charter of the company by
law OF 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 1893.
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 $1,250,00O for twenty-five years.
To make this huge bribe more enticing,
1 the purposes for which the revenue should
/ be used are specified To the people who
/ live in the dread of the oyerfows of the
Mississippi, the prospect is held out of an
annual expenditure of $350,000 for leyees.
Another $350,000 is to go to the support of
4 public schools, $150,000 for the support of
4 public charities, $4,000 for pensions to
1 Confederate veterans, 100000 for improv-
ing the drainage of the city of New Or
leans, and $250.0lg 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
4 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
1 it, if it yields to the vile entieement. the
scorn 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,
for the support of its schools, its charita-
BILE institutions, its public works and It's
general administration, and the character
and self-respect of it's people would be
/ fostered by reliance upon their public
>;,,t atrinf fpr fba ,toY,n
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
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 a large
share of its revenues from the people Of
, the rest of the country by pandering tt
the gambling spirit and playing upon the
: hopes of the poor, the ignorant, and tht
! reckless throughout the land. Nothing
could be more shameless than the avowa
; involved in these arguments, and yet the,
dlO uoSo ~ ASel. Ga etAS -
: 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-Iottery League
! which has been foced to establish news
: paper of its own in New Orleans in orde
to reach the people with its appeals ant
arguments. SO thoroughly has the pres
e been subsidized by the corrupting concern
: There is hope of arraying the great mas
! of respectable and thinking people agains
Z the insidious evil that MANAGES the State
Y but there is a large ignorant and vena
e element IN the body polite upon which
the lottery company viii work with all it
2 power The sentiment of the country a
large is undoubtedly strong against tn
!, lottery and all its works, but it is to b
: feared that it can not exert any great IN
g ffuence upon the action OF the people Q
9 Louisiana in this matter 1t might, pei
I haps, by its unanimous voice shame tina
8 State into an appreciation of the degrad
q ing position it is in danger of takin
z among the Commonwealths OF this Union
and awaken some sense OF self-respect.
I Now is the time to subscribe to th