New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1892-02-05
THE END or THE LOTTERY.

The end of the Louisiana Lottery is in sight.
That is the ostensible purpor OF the letter which
Mr.. John A. Morris has addressed to the pub
lie, and that we think, is its real meaning. In
the fist place. Mr. Morris speaks with authority.
He is the president of the company and its chief
beneficiary. Whatever is done in its name must
be done in accordance with his wishes and he
fully commits himself in the declaration that the
company would nor accept renewal OF It's
charter under any possible circumstances. More
over, he makes no pretence of being actuated
by high moral considerations, and this is an adj
ditional reason for taking him at his word. lie
says frankly that he and his associates were de-
ceived as to the nature and force OF popular
sentiment. They now perceive that the re-
newal Of the lottery charter would be the cause
of continued agitation and discomfort, and they
appreciate the significance OF the recent decision
of the Supreme Court UNFOLDING the postal law.
The obstacles to profitable prosecution OF their
business have become so many and serious that
they prefer to yield rather than keep up the
fight against such odds. The charter expires III
1895, and until that time the company may
continue operations but then, if not before, it
will cease to exist The evidence leads us to
Utlletc ludI MT. NIOIIlSS INttNI tAp4t>HNS III
fixed and final determination.
1t would be hard to find in tho history OF
human affairs a more complete demonstration Of
the power of public opinion. That Irresistible
force has been enlisted in greater causes and on
a grander scale, but perhaps it has never full
filed its mission more decSiyely. Popular scnt-
ment is constantly invoked in behalf Of all sorts
of creeds and enterprises, and we glibly claim
that il is enlisted on one side or the other OF
every question that interests us. And yet we
are frequently compelled to admit that it is slow
in declaring itself, and sometimes il seems as If
there were no such thing. But occasionally
there comes an Overwhelming manifestation and
then we realize that the familiar phrase may
denote tremendous reality, And so we find 1t
now. Everybody who has had part in the
fight against the lottery, or merely watched the
struggle with intelligent interest, has seen this
majestic force forming on the field; but though
the ultimate result has not been doubted by
those who believe in human progress, an i'm
mediate victory has scarcely even been hoped
for. In the light of this sudden surrender il
discerned, not only the existence Of stronger
and more pervasive feeling on this particular
subject than had been suspected, but also the
general uplifting of the race. Every such dis
closure is a surprise. The surface does not re-
veal the forces that are at work below. So il
was when the firing on Sumter vindcated in an
instant the passionate loyalty of the North. So
hereafter, we believe, will Christian civilization
manifest its potency throughout heathendom.
Moral forces often work obscurcly, not disclosing
themselves until the transformation is almost
complete; just as, in the physical world, water
at 30 degrees gives only slight indications that
it is on the verge of boiling.
This defeat of the Louisiana Lottery is not
one of the events which change the history Of
the world, or rather reveal the fact that the his
tory Of the world has already changed. But it
is nevertheless a noble evidence of cnghtcn-
ment, and it perfectly illustrates the way in
which public opinion gathers for conflict and
wins its inevitable TiumphS.