The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1910-08-14

there was no aid for the college to
be looked for from that direction. To
Doctor Motifs practical mind the only
college and OF getting 1t quickly was
by means OF lottery for the benefit
OF the institution. There we're almost
as many lotteries In those days as
there were banks. and this form Of
gambling was quite as popular as the
buying and selling OF stocks on q
margin are now, and even less con-
demned by moralists. Dartmouth and
Harvard colleges. as we'll as many other
educational institutions OF lesser note,
had employed this method Of raising
funds unsuccessfully Doctor Mott APP
piled to the State Legislature to secure
an appropriation for Union College.
The Legislature answered by authoriz-
Ing four lotteries to be drawn to pro-
duce Ss5.0o0 for this purpose.
Lotteries in those days were not
managed with the same skill and ex-
petition that now characterize them In
the countries where they still flourish.
The drawing OF the Union College
Lottery was not completed until 1914.
nine years after 1t was authorized, and
the net result was $76.13s. DR.. Mott
then made o new effort and secured
the passage OF an act by which lot
Eteries were authorized TO raise the
following sums: For Union College,
5000. 900; for Hamilton College, $4,000
for the Ashbury African church,in New
York, $4,000; for the college Of Ply
sicians and Surgeons, $4,000, and for
the Historical Society, $4,000.
These lotterles We're as lily managed
as their predecessors. The State ap-
pointed managers for each OF them and
paid them regular annual salary
It was for the Interest Of the man-
ayers. therefore. to make their Jobs
last as long as possible. and so from
1914 to 1925 the Institutions to be BEN
Gifted realized nothing from these lot
teries. Union College was kept alive
by advances made to 1t from time to
time by the State. Finally, intdespaira at
being unable to get the money that
was so urgently needed, President Mott
proposed that Union College should
purchase the interests Of all the other.
institutions and assume the manage
ment of the lotteries.
President Mott personally effected
the merger and prepared a new scheme
for tho drawing, he hoYing been made
thesole manager of the enterprise. The
State authorities decided that, to meet
the provisions Of tho act, to cover
the expenses Of the management and
to satisfy the grants of those con-;
cerned, the whole amount OF tickets
to be drawn would $4.492,80O and that
the drawings must be completed IN
eleven years The amount Of the tick y
cts to be sold was rixed at a sum SO.
that Is per cent. on the prizes would
produce the $3.50 OOgrequired. Il The law
fixed the ton for manage
ment a Is per cent. on the sum raised.
Fruits OF the Scheme.
Owing to his position and to his,
other duties DR.. N oft first made q con-
tract with firm OF vendors of lottery
tickets to sell them on q commission
and subsequently sold the interest In
the college to these brokers for $276.
900. The sale OF the tickets was not S
brisk rs was expected. and the ticket
brokers defaulted IN their payments.
DIR. Mott took over the control, and
about five years later crop Of suits
and counter-suits al law q re se. IA q flrs !,
these concerned only the ticket bro eTs
and DR.. Mott, bit later others i,Hers
drawn into the legal dispute II was
legged among other thllngs--s SO bitte,
was the controversy--that President
Mott had used the funds OF the col.
lege-the lottery funds-for his pri-
vate benefit, and had greatly aug, !,
mented his fortune thereby. It all
ended, years later, In 184 s In Dr. Mott
paying to Union College 10000 0o.sa,s83745
Whether this !arge sum was An So Z &
isfaction Of the debt, as claimed BY J,
some, or was a donation, 4 as asser
by others, the college go Il the money,
and i / was applied to the estab ishmens
of prot essorships, scholarships and
othee Il purposes upeciflcd in Dr. MOTIFS
deed OF conveyance, AT any rate the
original source Of the money was de-
rived from the lotteries which DR., Mott
had merged and managed With such
Kill. The debts OF the college wets I
paid. and twas left richly doWed
for the future, Dr. Mott remained the
President OF the institution until his
death, IN ls66,.sat the age OF %,
\ AS an educator, Dr., Mott was the
foremost Of his day. He followed few
Il any OF the presidents that had been
laid down by tho heads OF the great
colleges and universities of the time,
In reality he was a. generation In adj
vance Of the day in which he we'd.
plugging for petty mlsdenleanors " g y