Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1871-05-09
Gift Enterprise Swindler.


rancid butter. But after oil, there is
great deal, if not everything, in a
name. Gift concerts" both in law
ana TACT are lotteries, the most de
structive, pernicious and ruinous of
all forms of gambling, but the well
come name of "gift concert" has eff.
fectually disguised their character
even from the most conscientious and
discerning eyes. Tho genius who
baptised this detestable vice with a
neutrality-suspicious. has converted
naked betting and gambling in this
wholesale way, into a Christian pas
time and sanity duty. Murder is a
very ugly word but killing a man
cures all diseases-why could not we
call it dyspepsia remedy Our abb
horrence for what is called sins and
crimes comes from category of
harsh, ugly names. If sin can be
banished by so simple process as
the invention of an agreeable epithet,
it ought TO be done. Larceny" has
disagreeable sound, and stealing"
is not much better but let US COM
pound a scientific term from the
dead languages, and call il "klepto-
mania" and nobody will be ashamed
to steal who has any taste or regard
for the classics.
Now we insist that q new set OF
names shall be invented SO as to met
amorphose all other statutory offenc-
es into pious acts and virtues, or that
gift concerts shall be regarded and
punished according to their real
character. A gentleman of the bar
referred us to Chap. 169 Secs. l to
of the Revised Statutes, which de-
nounces imprisonment and fine
against all persons engaged in lottery
schemes, against all persons engaged
in selling tickets, and even against
editors who may advertise the
scheme; and yet the whole country
is afflicted with mania for this ruin
Gus indulgence. Churches, benevo-
lent societies, blacklegs, broken down
spectators, all classes are forsaking
regular employment and rushing af.
ter the lgnlS tdtuuS, the first prize in
flaming characters of S25, 900 30
prizes Of $4,000 each 40 prizes oil
81, 900 each. Who can fail in realiz.
ing fortune2
But the coolest attempt to gull q
confiding public that we have noticed
is the McGregor lottery, whose man
ayers pretend to have in their hands
$50, 900 in greenbacks, to be gambIed
off in this way. The authors Of this
viflainy do not, or need not, risk a
cent of their own capital, even if they
have any. The sale OF thirty or for
ty thousand tickets at 50 each is to
furnish this imposing capital, and a
large surplus to be divided among the
enterprising projectors of the fraud.
They are the mere agents of the
ticket buyers, and receive their mon
ely part of it they retain, and the
smaller balance is to be redistribut.
ed in prizes to the drawers, as the
wheel of fortune turned by this &C.
commodating association may deter
mine. So it does not require one
cent of capital in the projectors, to
feed the wheel Of fortune with prizes
ofa fabulous amount. 1t is the dupes
of these impostors that supply the
funds; the "ring" is only burthened
with Its custody and distribution.
The mOduS 0perdndi of these swindes
is this: The ticket purchasers sup
ply the banking capital, paying one,
two or three dollars per ticket, which
are numbered consecutively, and q
record is kept of the number sold to
each purchaser. When the decisive
day arrives, tickets exactly equaling
in number those sold are deposited
in the hollow cylinder, most of which
are blank, few OF them are marked
as prizes, the amount Of which is
written on the ticket. The wheel is
then turned, and some person ap-
pointed for the purpose draws for the
purchaser Of ticket No. l, then for
ticket No. 2, and so on till he draws
for each purchaser, calling out the
number of his ticket. In reality it is
game of hazard in which each
holder bets with all the other6 that
his ticket or tickets will draw prize
of greater or less sum. Such is a
lottery when conducted with some
appearance of honesty but recently,
in the city of New York, the police
broke up such an establishment, and
found q wheel ready to be set in mo-
ton wherein there were two barrels
of tickets, and rot a prize among
them. The managers must have re,
allied $4,000 out Of this swindle.
The "heathen Chinee" did not stuff
his sleeve with mere false tokens,
"with intent to deceive"
Well, if any of our patrons wish to
gamble in this way, it would cost less
to deposit their money with some
safe and honest custodian, say the
editor of the Herald. He has in his
possession Col. Clark's old draft
wheel that did 80 much TO save the
country in war times. A few revo-
lutions of this instrument would de-
termine who should have the whole
pile.
But TO be more serious, if our min
listers have any regard for morals, If
our judges and district attorneys
have any regard for the law they
have sworn to support, and if our ed
itors do not care more for advertising
fees than the public veal, we shall
hope that this great and growing
vice and crime, involving, not like
the card table, only the few, but all
classes of society, shall be encounter.
ed by public opinion at shall en-
force the penalties of the law against
It's authors, aiders and abettors.
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