Louisiana Lottery

The Louisiana State Lottery Company was a private corporation that in the mid-19th century ran the Louisiana lottery. It was for a time the only legal lottery in the United States, and for much of that time had a very foul reputation as a swindle of the state and citizens and a repository of corruption.

Related Topics:
19th century - Louisiana - Lottery - United States - Swindle - Corruption

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The company, inititally a syndicate from New York was chartered on August 11 1868 by the Louisiana General Assembly with a 25 year charter and exchange gave the State 40 000 USD a year. With the passage of the charter, all other organized gambling was made illegal. This start almost immediately gave it a bad reputation as having bribed the legislators into a corrupt deal especially at a time when other states were viewing lotteries and gambling with suspiscions.

Related Topics:
Syndicate - New York - August 11 - 1868 - Louisiana General Assembly - USD

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Charles Howard served as the first president, having previously worked for the Alabama Lottery and Kentucky State Lottery. Confederate Generals P.G.T. Beauregard, who attempted reform, and Jubal Anderson Early held the drawings. Most of the tickets were sent via special train (There was so much mail it required a special consideration) to agents in the U.S. and abroad who whould sell them in their respective areas.

Related Topics:
Charles Howard - Alabama Lottery - Kentucky State Lottery - Confederate - P.G.T. Beauregard - Jubal Anderson Early

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In 1890, three years before the charters expiration, the company bribed the legislature into passing an act to write them into the constitution (Thus requiring a sucessful supermajority of both houses of the Louisiana Legislature and referendum) by offering to give the state 500 000 USD per year.

Related Topics:
1890 - Supermajority - Louisiana Legislature - Referendum

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