Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume X.djvu/654

 648 LOTTERY LOTUS produced about 30,000. The first parliamen- tary lottery was established in 1709. From this time onward, during the period in which the English state lotteries were carried on un- der act of parliament, the usual plan was to distribute in prizes of different magnitudes an amount equal to 10 for each ticket; the profit consisted in the advance upon this value paid by contractors, who sold directly to the people, and often by dividing tickets into parts. The prizes were generally funded in an- nuities. Thus in 1747, when 1,000,000 was raised by the sale of 10,000 shares, the prizes were paid in perpetual annuities at 4 per cent. In 1778 the number of lottery offices in the whole kingdom was 400. In that year an act was passed obliging every person who kept such an office to take out a yearly license and to pay 50 for it ; this measure soon re- duced the number from 400 to 41. But the evils which in every country have been found attendant on lottery speculations attracted in 1819 the attention of the English people, and the subject was thoroughly discussed in parlia- ment. The mischievous influences of the sys- tem were admitted, but for the time at least all other arguments yielded to that of its ne- cessity as a source of revenue. But in 1823 public sentiment had become so far adverse to the further approval of these institutions, that a lottery was only tolerated in that year be- cause it was to be the last. The act which sanctioned it was accompanied by provisions for the future suppression of lotteries, and for rendering illegal the sale within the kingdom of any tickets or shares of tickets in foreign projects of this character. In the United States, the lottery has been from the earliest settlement of the country a familiar means of raising funds, which in this country could have been secured in no other mode so easily if at all. The Virginia company, as has already been mentioned, derived a large profit from English lotteries, and the influence of them extended gradually to the eastern colonies; for it is reported that an assembly of ministers at Boston in 1699 denounced the lottery as "a cheat," and its agents as " pillagers of the peo- ple." Generally, however, lotteries enjoyed a fair reputation, and certainly were soon ex- tensively employed throughout the country, for many important and beneficial purposes. Colleges have been founded, roads made, bridges built, ferries improved, and hospitals erected by the aid of lotteries. In 1833 a society was formed in Pennsylvania which advocated their suppression. In July, 1834, the society issued an address to the public, set- ting forth its objects and views. It is to the efforts of this society that we should mainly attribute the action of most of the states in prohibiting the further establishment of lot- teries. In no fewer than 26 of the states the constitution expressly forbids the legisla- lature to authorize them, and the parties con- cerned in them are in nearly all the states subject to the imposition of heavy penalties. The schemes known as art unions are held to be lotteries by express decisions. In the lan- guage of the court in New York : " These as- sociations distribute a small number of prizes among a great number of persons. The prizes and blanks are drawn in the same manner as in other lotteries. The intention of these schemes is to sell works of art for more than they can be sold for at private sale, and this is to be brought about by an appeal to the uni- versal passion for playing at games of chance. They have all the attributes and elements of lotteries." In most of the states the adver- tisement of foreign lotteries is made a penal offence ; but lotteries are still permitted in Ken- tucky, and in Louisiana a general law prohibit- ing lottery companies was superseded in 1868 by an act chartering a company, and giving it an exclusive privilege of selling lottery tickets for 25 years. LOTUS, the name of a genus of plants of the family leguminoscs, and nearly related to the Lotus corniculatus. clovers. The most common species, L. corni- culatus, is called in England the bird's-foot tre- foil ; this has a long perennial root, a decum- bent stem abundantly clothed with pinnate leaves of five leaflets, and producing numerous clusters of small yellow flowers ; it is a com- mon plant in northern Europe, and in England is regarded as a valuable addition to the true grasses in pasturage. Several varieties are rec- ognized, differing in size and habit, and there is a double variety which is grown in gardens, where it forms a dense, dark green mat, abun- dantly sprinkled with lively yellow blossoms. Other species furnish pasturage in the south of Europe. L. Jacobcvus, from the Cape Yerd islands, is sometimes met with as a greenhouse plant; it has upright stems, narrow downy leaves, and produces an abundance of blackish purple flowers. The name lotus or lotos is used by both ancient and modern writers as applied