Montana labor news., 1937-01-14
HOUSE JOINT MEMORIAL NO. /
introduced by Finnegan and MackIe
What Lotteries Have Done

France adopted a lottery to reduce
its national debt; Italy to build rail-
roads; Denmark to advance art and
music; Holland to advance sciences;
Ireland to finance the building Of
hospitals; Spain for charitable in
situations; Germany to finance pub
lie improvements, ETC.; England used
to support its navy by public lot
teries; early American colonies per
mitted lotteries to build schools,
churches and public works and i'm
provements, such as canals, bridges,
roads, etc. The Revolutionary war
was in part financed with the pro-
ceeds of lotteries. Early building OF
Yale, Columbia and Harvard were
built with the proceeds of lotteries.
Gambling Untaxed-
According to the Chicago Tribune,
after an 11,000-mile tour throughout
the United States by a special writer,
it was found that the people of the
United States spend $4,000, 1000, 900 a
year on gambling games. With a
few exceptions, very little of this
money is spent in legalized gambling
games. This is one of the greatest
| industries in the country and pays
no direct taxes to governmental
treasures. Why can't we use this
industry to provide revenue for old
age pensions?
State Lottery for Old-Age Pensions
The old-timers who will benefit
from legalized state lottery r the
men and women who built this coun-
try and in the days of their produc-
tivity did not receive even a living
wage, at least a wage that afforded
them many comforts in life; they
did not receive a saving wage to pro-
tect them from want in their declin-
ing years. Some selfish and we'll
fed capitalists and p~ropagandists rid
icule every suggestion to provide a
comfortable pension for our old
timers. You will hear the statement
made that the pensioners want some
thing for nothing. That is a false
hood on the face of it. The real facts
are that the big corporations holding
a virtual monopoly OF all our natural
resources are the ones who have
been getting millions of dollars and
rendering very little service to the
nation in return-they are the ones
who are always seeking something
for nothing or at least paying the
least possible price; they are the ones
who kept the old-timers' wages SO
low that now the poor old people are
without resources.
The word pension or old-age assist
ance should be eliminated and the
words ADJUSTED COMPENSA-
TON used to more fittingly express
our obligations to these old-timers
who faced the p~rivations of pioneer
life to give us the civilization we
now enjoy. Society FAILED to pro-
tect these old-timers in their youth,
and because of that NEGLECT we
face-the problem of providing proper
ADJUSTED COMPENSATION for
those in need of our assistance. w
can provide a decent adjusted COM
p~ensation for our old people without
additional taxes by the lottery sys-
tenn. Common sense tells us to fight
for this plan regardless of criticism.
In addition to benefits for the old
| people of our state, a more important
point is that the operations of the
state lottery will give work to the
unemployed and make permanent
jobs for them, thereby saving money
for the state and federal govern
ments. The cost of operating the
lottery will be paid out Of the lottery
receipts. This plan can be placed on
a self-sustaining basis.
FRANK FINNEGAN,
Representing Deer Lodge County.