Omaha daily bee., 1895-09-01

wears since the lottery held its drawings
freely and with much pomp and circumstance
in the Charles theater, and Generals Beau
regard and Early presided at these cere'
monies selling the names they had mace
glorious in a lost cause to help In what was
for the lottery people at least oistihct,y
winning one For in those days the State
lottery cleared above all expenses $1,000, ,OOC
a wear and Generals Beauregard and early
drew incomes from 1t much larger than tht
government paid to the judges or the supreme
court and the members OF the CABINET whC
finally declared against the company ano
drove II into exile. There had been many
efforts made to kill it in the past, and the
State lottery was called 'the national dis
grace" and "the modern slavery" and Lousi.
ana was spoken Of as a blot on the map oi
our country, as was Utah when polygamy
fourished within her state lines and defed
the laws Of the federal government. The
final rally against the lottery occurred In
1890, when the lease of the company expired
and the directors applied to the Legislature
for a renewal. At that time it was paying
out but very little and taking In fabulous
sums; how much 1t really made will probably
never be told. but its gains were possibly nc
more exaggerated by its enemies than was the
amount of Its expenses by the company itself.
It's outlay for advertising, for instance, which
must have been one Of its chief expenses,
was only $4,000 year, which Is little more
than a firm Of soap manufacturers pay for
their advertising for the same length Of time
and it is rather discouraging to remember
that for share Of this bribe every newspaper
in the city of New Orleans and in the state
Of louisiana with few notable exceptions, be-
came an crgan of the lottery, and said nothing
concerning it but what was good To this sum
may be added the salaries of its officers, the
money paid out in prizes, the cost Of printing
and mailing the tickets, and the sum cf
$40, 900 paid annually to the state of Louisiana,
This tribute was considered as quite sufficient
when the lottery was first started, and strug-
Cling as it was for ten years to make iv-
ing; but in 1890, when its continued existence
was threatened, the company found 1t could
very well afford to offer the state not $40 900,
but S1,000,000 year, which throws a lurld
light on what its net earnings must have
been. AS matter of fact, in those palmy
times when there were daily drawings, the
lottery received on some days as many as
$4,000 or 600 letters, with orders for tickets
enclosed which averaged IS a letter.
1t was Postmaster General Wanamaker who
put stop to all this by refusing to allow
any printed matter concerning the lottery
to pass outside Of the state of Louisiana
which decision, when it came, proved to be
the order of exile to the greatest gambling
concern of modern times.
For some long time the lottery was driven
about from pillar to post, and knocked eagerly
here and there for admittance, seeking
home and resting place for a headquarters
and 1t was not at first successful. Its first
rebuff came from Mexico, where 1t had pro-
posed to move its plant, but the Mexican
government was greedy, and wanted too large
a sum for itself, or what is more likely
dd not want so well organized a rival to
threaten the earnings OF her own national
lottery. Then the republics of Colombia and
Nicaragua were each tempted with the honor
Of giving a name to the new company, but
each declined that distinction, and so It
finally came begging to Honduras, the least
advanced of all the Central American repub-
lies, and the most heavily burdened with
debt Honduras agreed to receive the exile
and to give II her name and protection for
the sum OF $4,000 year and 20 per cent of
the gross earnings. 1t would seem that this
to a country that has not paid the interest on
her national debt for twelve years was
very advantageous bargain; but as four presi-
dents and as many revolutions and govern
ments have appeared and disappeared in the
two years in which the lottery people have
received their charter in Honduras the
benefit OF the arrangement to them has not
been an obvious one, and II was not until
year ago that the first drawing of the lottery
was held at Puerto CorteZ. The COMPANY
celebrated this occasion with a pathetic imi-
tatton of its former ponp and ceremony,
and there was much feasting and speech
making, and n special train was run from
the interior to bring important natives to the
ceremonies. but the train fell of the track
four times, and was just day late In con-
sequence. The young man who had charge