been entertained by any, I think it unnecessary to say anything more, than just to observe, that the resolutions of Congress now alluded to, are undoubtedly as absolutely binding upon the United States, as the most solemn Acts of Confederation or Legislation. As to the idea, which I am informed has in some instances prevailed, that the half pay and commutation are to be regarded merely in the odious light of a pension, it ought to be exploded forever-that provision should be viewed as it really was, a reasonable compensation offered by Congress at a time when they had nothing else to give to the Officers of the Army for services then to be performed. It was the only means to prevent a total dereliction of the Service-it was a part of their hire, I may be allowed to say, it was the price of their blood and of your Independency-it is therefore more than a common debt, it is a debt of honor-it can never be considered as a pension or gratuity nor be cancelled until it is fairly discharged. . . . I have thus freely disclosed what I wished to make known, before I surrendered up my public trust to those who committed it to me the task is now accomplished I now bid adieu to your Excellency, as the Chief Magistrate of your State, at the same time I bid a last farewell to the cares of Office and all the employments of public life. It remains then to be my final and only request, that your Excellency will communicate these sentiments to your legislature at their next meeting and that they may be considered as the legacy of one who has ardently wished on all occasions to be useful to his Country and who even in the shade of retirement will not fail to implore the divine benediction upon it." SPARKS: "The Legislatures, that were sitting when this letter was received, passed resolves highly honorary to the Commander-in-Chief; and the Governors of the States wrote letters to him expressing thanks and gratitude for his long, devoted, and successful services in the cause of his country." THE HISTORY OF LOTTERIES IN NEW YORK A (Third Paper) IV LOTTERIES IN NEW YORK AFTER THE REVOLUTION FTER the Revolution the method of drawing a lottery changed. Tickets instead of being placed in boxes were placed in wheels, the numbered tickets in one wheel, the unnumbered tickets, consisting of blanks and prizes, in a second wheel. It was the practice to employ two boys to draw the tickets. The first act relative to lotteries passed after the Revolution was enacted in 1783 to suppress private lotteries and to remit certain penalties imposed under the act of 1774. The act of 1783 reiterated the penalties of the act of 1774. It provided, however, that offences against the act of 1774 committed since the fourth of July 1776 be pardoned, and all penalties and forfeitures be remitted. A lottery was authorized in 1790 to enable the government of New York City to raise £13,000 to repair the City Hall. The repairs and improvements in the City Hall were made so that the building would be better adapted to the needs of the Congress of the United States which was then sitting in New York. Five years later a lottery was authorized for the purpose of erecting buildings where the poor and indigent might be cared for.3 The act stated that expenses since the war had been so heavy that the money could not well be raised by taxation. It stated further "The city from its situation is necessarily the receptacle of a greater proportion of paupers than any other city or county within this State." In 1797 an act was passed to authorize the raising of $45,000 in three lotteries to open up and improve certain great roads. The roads which were to be opened and improved are as follows: 1 Laws of the State, I, ch. 12. 3 Ibid., III, p. 594. 2 Ibid., III, p. 114. ▲ Ibid., IV, p. 83. best. (1) Great Genesee Road from old Fort Schuyler to Geneva. (2) Albany to Cohoes Falls, Waterford, Fort Edward, Fort Ann, Lake Champlain and Wood Creek. (3) Cooperstown to outlet of Skaneateles Lake. (4) Catskill to Owego. The managers were empowered to conduct the lottery as they deemed The year following a supplementary act was passed authorizing the managers to sell tickets in lots of twenty-five on credit on the condition that satisfactory security be given. In 1800 was passed the first of a number of acts authorizing lotteries to provide for the improvement of the navigation of the Hudson. The act of 1800 was to provide for improving navigation between Albany and Waterford. The sum raised was $13,000. The year following a further grant of $10,000 was made for the same purpose to be raised by the same managers. The famous act "for the encouragement of literature" was passed at the same time. This act authorized the raising of $100,000 by four successive lotteries of $25,000 each.R Another act for the improvement of roads was passed at the same time. It provided for the raising of $45,000 to be used in constructing a road from Rome to Brownsville and the St. Lawrence River. This lottery was known familiarly as the Black River Lottery. The managers were required to give bonds of $10,000 each and also to deposit the sums collected in one of the state banks as soon as the receipts amounted to $3000. The following managers were appointed: Thomas Storm, David Gelston, Philip Ten Eyck of New York; Smith Thompson of Poughkeepsie; Elisha Jenkins of Hudson; Daniel Hale of Albany; and John Lovett of Lansingburg. Each manager was required to give a bond of $10,000. The act also required that as soon as five thousand dollars was collected the sum was to be deposited in one of the state banks. Ibid., IV, p. 469. 6 Ibid., V, p. 299. 8 Webster, III, pp. 302-3. Of the sum thus raised $12,500 was to be paid to the Regents of New York to be distributed among the academies of the state; the residue to be paid to the treasurer of the state to be applied for the benefit of the common schools. In 1803 an act was passed granting the further sum of $7,500 for improving the navigation of the Hudson. The bond required of managers was increased to $12,000, and their compensation was ten per cent. of the amount raised. This lottery was completed within three years. Three other lotteries were granted by the same act: $600 for a bridge over the Schoharie River, $5000 for improving the harbor at Sag Harbor and for the encouragement of whale and cod fishing, $15,000 for the use of the Society for the Relief of Poor Widows in New York City. In 1804 another grant of $20,000 for the improvement of the Hudson River below Albany was made. The managers of the "Literature Lottery" were authorized to raise the money for this purpose, after they had completed the lottery originally granted by the act of 1801. The managers were authorized by the same act to raise $12,000 towards the construction of the State Capitol. The following year an act was passed changing the compensation of managers to fourteen per cent. of the amount raised. Managers were required to render a monthly account of the number of tickets sold and they were forbidden to take any tickets for their own use.10 On March 30, 1805, the famous act " for the endowment of Union College" was passed.11 The preamble states that the plans of the college have been enlarged so that additional buildings and more professors are required, but that the funds of the college are inadequate to meet the demands. Hence $80,000 was granted, to be raised in four successive lotteries of $20,000 each. Managers were required to give bonds of $30,000 and to make deposits as soon as receipts from the sale of tickets amounted to $500. The lottery was not to be begun until the lottery for the improvement of navigation had been drawn; but the lottery was not to be postponed later than 1809. The act stated that $35,000 should be used for buildings and that $35,000 should be put out at interest as an endowment to provide an in"Webster, Laws of New York, III, p. 313. 9 Ibid., III, p. 481. 10 Webster, IV, p. 233. 11 Ibid., IV, p. 113. come for professorships. One-half of the remainder was to be used to establish a library, and the other half towards defraying the expenses of indigent students. An act passed in the following year directed the Attorney-General to take personal charge of indictments against persons accused of violating the law forbidding private lotteries.12 The same act gave permission to the Board of Health of New York to raise by lottery the sum of $25,000 to erect buildings in which to keep persons afflicted with malignant diseases. 13 In 1809 the Board was authorized to raise a further sum of $5,000 for the benefit of the Orphan Asylum of New York. An act of April 7, 1807, directed the managers of the Union College lottery to raise $5,000 on each of the four classes of that lottery, a total of $20,000, to be applied toward the building of the State Capitol.14 On the same day an act was passed appropriating the lottery funds which had been raised.15 It also authorized the managers of the Literature Lottery to raise an additional sum of $26,300 to be used in improving the Hudson River between Lansingburgh and Waterford. The compensation of managers was increased to 15%. Managers were also required to reserve for at least sixty days, one-third of the tickets to sold publicly at retail. Dealing in lottery tickets had become a business of large proportions. Lottery offices might aptly be compared to the stock brokerage houses of the present day. The statement at the end of the last paragraph gives a suggestion of the practice that had come into vogue. Managers had adopted the method of disposing of tickets in bulk to the lottery offices. The lottery offices then sold the tickets at advanced prices. The following advertisement inserted by the managers in the Daily Advertiser of February 22, 1802, gives the scheme of Lottery No. 1 for the encouragement of Literature: 13 Webster, IV, p. 627. 12 Ibid., IV, p. 635. 15 Ibid., V, p. 320. |