Senate:

"'_Resolved_, That a joint committee, of one from the Senate, and two
from the House, be appointed to report a bill abolishing licensed
gaming in the city of New Orleans.'"

Larry had declared war, for he added, as he sent his resolution to the
clerk's desk: "At the proper time I mean to say something about these
damnable hells." Throughout the city there was a buzz; for at that time
New Orleans had not the fourth of her present population. Any move of
this sort was soon known to its very extremes. The trustees of the
hospital, the stockholders in these licensed faro-banks--for they were,
like all robbing-machines, joint-stock companies--and many who honestly
believed this the best system to prevent gaming as far as possible,
were seen hanging about the lobbies of the Legislature. Each had his
argument in favor of continuing the license, but all were based upon
the same motive--interest. The public morals would be greatly injured,
instead of being improved; where there were only four gaming
establishments, there would be fifty; instead of being open and public,
they would be hid away in private, dark places, to which the young and
the innocent would be decoyed and fleeced; merchants could not
supervise the conduct of their clerks--these would be robbed by their
employes. As the thing stood now, cheating operated a forfeiture of
charter or license: this penalty removed, cheating would be universal.
"What would become of the hospital?" the tax-payer asked. "God knows,
our taxes are onerous enough now, and to add to these the eighty
thousand dollars now paid by the gamblers--why, the people would not
stand it, and this great and glorious charity would be destroyed."

To all of these arguments Larry was deaf; his constituents expected it
of him; the Christian Church demanded it. They were responsible to
Heaven for this great sin. The pious prayers of the good sisters of the
holy Methodist Church, as well as those of the Baptist, had at last
reached the ears of the Almighty, and he, Larry, felt himself the
instrument in His hands to put down the _d----d infernal sons of
b----_, who were robbing the innocent and unsuspecting.

There was no use of urging arguments of this sort to him: if the
Charity Hospital fell, _let_ her fall, and if the indigent afflicted
could not find relief elsewhere, why, they must die--they had to die
anyhow at some time, and he didn't see much use in their living,
anyhow; and as for the