"SIC TRANSIT GLORIA" a
So a lottery was settled upon as the means ;
of raising money to found in Louisville a li-
brary that would rival the British Museum. But I ‘
the repugnant word "lottery" was avoided in the
{ act which, on March lo, 1871, incorporated the
Public Library of Kentucky. The charter empow-
' ered the incorporators, or trustees, to hold
"public literary, musical or dramatic enter-
tainments, at which the incorporators may dis-
tribute by lot a portion of the proceeds aris-
3, ing from the sale of tickets of admission." ln
1 other words, they could hold super—Bank Nights,
j V with the difference that the lucky ticket hold-
1 ers need not be present at the entertainments
i to collect their prizes.(5)
§ X The trustees were limited to five such "con- Q
§ certs." And that was the only limitation, as
far as the drawings were concerned. There was
no regulation of the proportion that must be
paid out in prizes; more important, the per-
centage of the proceeds to be retained for the [
library was not defined. There was, likewise,
no designation of authority to whom a regular
accounting of the funds obtained from the "gift
? concerts" must be made. i
i Other sections of the charter empowered the 4
  trustees to employ the personnel necessary to
i conduct the entertainments and drawings and to
; carry on the affairs of the library; to invest
1 money received, to purchase "suitable grounds
E and buildings" in which to house the library;
; to publish a paper or journal for the benefit
· of the library, and to issue bonds up to 50 per
I cent of the capital stock. The treasurer of
the corporation must be an incorporated bank of z
- the city; and no money belonging to the library
j 25
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