The Pulpit vs. The Lottery: Seattle's 1892 War on Gambling

The Louisiana Lottery received a stinging arraignment from the pulpit of Plymouth Congregational Church last evening. Rev. Wallace Nutting took his text from Genesis: 'And the Lord said unto Cain, Where is Abel, thy brother? And he said, I know not; am I my brother's keeper?' and urged the necessity of Christian people in the United States doing their share toward putting down this giant evil. Nutting pointed out that the lottery's drawings aggregate about $30,000,000 per year, with over $8,000,000 in profit. He argued that the lottery is a 'Southern Tammany'—a political machine that debauches the moral tone of the state and relies on bribery to survive. Nutting also took aim at local hypocrisy, noting that while the Washington State Constitution says, 'The legislature shall never authorize any lottery,' a loophole in the law effectively allows such schemes to flourish under the guise of 'charity.' He claimed to be amazed by indications that some of Seattle’s best young men had been ensnared in the vice, and questioned why the local police, who have the power to close gambling houses, fail to do so. He concluded that it was time for citizens to demand the closing of these houses and the removal of the shameful proviso in state law that licenses gambling under the thin veil of charity.