The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1881-04-23

Special terms to " clubs,'' ETC.. atc.
Announcements of this kind, admitted
to any extent, are sure to catch the eve
of almost every reader, and AMONG the
three or four hundred readers of conn
try paper the chances are that there is
some sanguine boy or some simple
woman who is ready to take the bait.
Grant that there are in the country
five Thousand or ten thousand such ma
pers, and that each of them Is the
means of bringing five dollars into the
hands of the principals, it will be seen
that very handsome return is at once
provided over and above expenses Of
printing and postage. s' ~ .'gs
This programme has of late been
varied by the innovation of opening the
correspondence by sending gratuitously
package of lottery tickets which will
become available in some "Grand
Drawing" on payment of q trifing sum.
The present writer was a few days since
the honored recipient of such package,
kindly forwarded from Toronto, Canada.
Strange to say, he was not tempted to
remit, and the tickets are at the service
of any properly authenticated charitable
institution. .... ..-." .f
1t is decidedly repugnant to admit
distinction between "genuinen and
bogus lotteries, but a strict adherence TO
the truth makes it necessary. The I'M
doubted fact is, however, that, as Mr..
Comstock says, there is in all lotteries
an unknown element of fraud which in.
definitely reduces the chances of prize.
Let any one who is tempted to invest in
a nominally honest lottery do sst.ssAe
figuring on his own account, with the
returns of an alleged genuine drawing
before him, and the sums total of prizes
and ticket-holders as the terms of his
problem. He will see how very slender
are the chances of success even if the
unknown element of fraud be entirely
lacking. On this very remote chance,
however, multitudes of the human race
will continue to stake their scant savings
until lotteries cease to be. Probably,
after all, the schemes which are nomi-
nally honest cause more wretchedness
than do those which are manufactured
to meet the demand for something new.
Beware of any and all projects, no
matter how well indorsed, which offer
hundreds and thousands in return for
tens.
Small sympathy need be expended on
those who pay expressmen for deliver
ing G. o. d. what they suppose to be
package of counterfeit U. S. Treasury
notes, but which turns out to be a box
of sawdust. They are swindlers at
heart themselves, and deserve the lesson
they receive at the hands of more sue
cessful swindlers. 4
Of the other frauds exposed by Mr..
Comstock, including quaek medicines,
surgical Institutes, and score of 9TH
ers, each subdivided into as many in
genious phases, perhaps the class which
attracts the most victims IS that which
offers for an absurdly low price GA
superb Turkey morocco "volume for
dollar; GA 5000 breech-loading gun for
$50" (always, by the way, with the
name of some famous maker on the
breech); GA $75 sewing machine for
S10,'' or watches and jevelry worth
hundreds for q fraction Of their real
value. Where the transaction is man.
aged by mail the purchaser receives
either nothing at all or an article so
obviously worthless that he sees he has
been duped and surrenders al discre-
ton. Where it is conducted by express
or in person a like result is attained,
that is to say, his money is secured by
means of a hundred devices known to
the initiated, and too elaborate for ex-
PLANTATION here. .......
No doubt some will recognize even in
these brief references swindling schemes
of which they themselves have some
time been the victims. If it serves as
warning to few its purpose will have
been amply fulfilled; and in conclusion
that warning may be repeated which the
most careless reader must have seen
elsewhere in these columns:
Trust no. advertisement, prospectus,
circular or letter which holds out the
hope of enormous returns for a small
outlay, whether in merchandise, books,
money or stock. If such chances ever
exist they are promptly taken by those
who know and watch the market.
Those who advertise or promise them
beforehand are invariably swindlers.-
Charles l.. Norton, in Christian Union.