Butte semi-weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1886-1890, 1888-12-22
WHAT Is

Some Authorities Bearing on the Legal
Definition of Form of Gambling,
Going to Show hat a Wheel of
Fortune Is Not a Lottery, and Ought
Not to Be Licensed as One.
The quandary in which the City Council
found itself on Wednesday evening in it's
t fort to come to a conclusion as to
whether Harry Gilbert is conducting the
game he runs under the proper license or
not urged q reporter to make some inqui-
ries yesterday on the subject. In the Coun-
Gil discussion the confusion arose from the
wording OF the territorial statute OH licenses.
City Attorney Speer read the section to the
Council, which specifies the license to be ex-
acted for faro, keno and roulette as $3.50
u month, and then adds: "For zach
and every other banking game not
mentioned in this section such
person or persons shall pay
a license of $3.50 a month, but this section
shall not be construed to authorize or per-
init any game prohibited by the avs OF
this Territory" It was clear to the Coun-
Gil that the wheel of fortune" run by Gill
bert was neither faro, keno nor roulette, but
they were nonplussed by the general pro-
visions concerning every other banking
game"
Mr.. Speer could give no legal definition Of
the word banking" If this word had
been left out of the general provisions and
the section had read "every other game''
their course would lave been clear. As
seen by the interview had with County
Treasurer Kessler, the same difficulty had
been found by the county authorities
as to the proper license to charge
Mr.. Gilbert for running his game and
they had 0 to the professional gam
bling fraternity for an opinion on the sub
iect by which they had been guided to the
conclusion that the game generally called
wheel OF fortune" was a kind of lottery.
The section OF the Territorial laws govern
ing lottery license is separate from the one
already alluded to and charges $3.50 per
quarter. 1t was a question OF mount to
be charged for MIR. Gilbert's license. and as
can be seen the difference to the treasury
both Of the city and county is very mate
rial.
In order to arrive at a conclusion, there
fore, OF what banking games'' are, the re-
porter consulted q legal friend who hunted
all through the decisions of the Courts of
California and Nevada where such q sub.
iect would be likely to conn up, through
law ~oletionarles and dlgests, n declared
that nowhere could he find such a phrase
used as applied to gambling as "banking
games" No definition of such a word
could be found anywhere, and the concur
sion is inevitable that the expression orig.
mated in the fertile brain OF the legislator
who prepared the act and has no recog-
nizsd legal meaning. The word banking"
used in this sense is senseless, and the sec.
tion a only properly be construed by
leaving it put and understanding the gem
eral provision to mean any other gambling
device besides faro, keno or roulette.
1t then became of interest to know what
propriety there 10 in calling the wheel game
o lottery. There are numerous decisions
on this point, and in every instance it is
found that a lottery is accompanied by q
sale OF tickets which are drawn TO decide
the winner. The Supreme Court OF Michi-
gan IL 1883, in the case OF People vi.
r. lily. detined lotteries, 'sas usually UNDER
stood, with tickets, written or printed, or