New Orleans: (Democratic Anti-Lottery Executive Committee of the State of Louisiana), 1891.
Price: $200.00
Softcover. Pamphlet. Slim octavo. 6pp. Sewn self-wrappers. Old library stamp on final blank page, two horizontal folds, some marginal edge loss and short foredge tears at the folds, outer leaf nearly separated, good or better. "Appeal to the People of the United States: Your fellow citizens of the State of Louisiana, opposed to Lottery Gambling and Lottery Charters, make to you this appeal for aid in their struggle with the powerful gambling corporation, known as the Louisiana Lottery Company, which is domiciled among us, but has acquired a footing in almost every hamlet in the land."
The product of post-Civil War insolvency, the Louisiana lottery was a major player in Louisiana state politics from 1865 to 1890. Reportedly, by the 1880s it was also one of the largest business in the country, selling tickets nationwide. This pamphlet was printed in the run-up to the gubernatorial election of 1892, the winner of which would decide whether the lottery's charter would be renewed. (In the face of mounting opposition, the head of the lottery, John A. Morris, offered to increase the company's annual payment to the state from $40,000 to $750,0000.)
A federal ban on sending lottery tickets through the U.S. mail devastated the company's earnings, and subsequent investigation into its many corrupt endeavors ended the lottery's involvement in Louisiana. Incredibly, Louisiana's State Treasurer embezzled $1.5 million and fled to Honduras, where he continued to run a lottery for the U.S. (as "The Honduras Lottery Company") for over a decade. The scheme ended when the DOJ raided the lottery's printing presses in Alabama and Delaware, in 1907. An artifact from a fascinating case of corruption in U.S. politics; being rather delicate, we presume it to be very uncommon.
Item #629683
