ould prove to the absolute satisfaction of all intelligent,
patriotic men that it was useless for any man or set of men to attempt
the lottery's destruction, because they would be met with the
accumulated resistance of the reckless spending of the vast amounts of
festered dollars which had been stolen from the people. The argument of
these comparatively petty thieves was: "No men nor sets of men can hope
to 'stack up' against us, for their money comes hard, cents and dollars
at a time; they are obliged to earn it, while we get ours in chunks by
simply taking it. We can buy lawyers and can hire law-makers, and we can
lease Government officials, and we can outbid any honest men, who are
the only ones who object to our game. In the market for legislative or
business talent you cannot get within touching distance of us." Yet the
people had but to sneeze and this foul parasite was detached from their
free and honest structure and was wafted away with the dead leaves and
the dust to bottomless nowhere.

In the height of its prosperity the Louisiana Lottery took from the
people only a paltry ten or twenty million dollars a year, while to-day
there are single groups of banks, trust companies, corporations, and
trusts which take from the people by might, by trick, and by theft
hundreds of millions each year; and there are scores of such groups. The
Sugar trust has been the instrument of gathering, in one year, a hundred
millions of the people's savings, and the Steel trust alone has robbed
the people of over five hundred millions of dollars in a single twelve
months.

To-day the "System" and its methods are as clearly and as sharply
defined in the tangibility of their relation to the people as was ever
the Louisiana Lottery. On certain days the Louisiana Lottery sold its
tickets, which the people bought with their savings. On a certain day
the drawing took place, at which all those who had parted with their
dollars expected to receive them back together with immense profits, and
upon that day disappointment was spread broadcast among the many and
unhealthy joy among the few. So with the "System." On certain days the
public is sold their stock, bond, and insurance policy certificates.
Upon other days they look for their savings and profits. On the
contrary, they learn that their savings have decreased in value or have
been wiped out, and that there never was any chance of profit. My
critics will say that such a comparison cannot