Fort Worth weekly gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1890-10-02
LOTTERY LAW.
Stop to Lottery Business and Adver-
Using Through the Mails.

An act to amend certain sections Of the
Revised Statutes relating to lotteries,
aud for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the senate and house
OF representatives of the United States of
America in congress assembled, that
section 1894 of the Revised Statutes be,
and the same is hereby, amended to read
as follows:
'Sec. 1894. No letter, postal card or
| circular concerning any lottery So called
gift concert. or other similar enterprise
Offering prizes dependent upon lot or
chance, or concerning schemes devised
for the purpose of obtaining money or
property under false pretenses, aud no
list of the drawings at any lottery or sim
liar scheme, and no lottery ticket or part
| thereof, and no cheek, draft, bill,
money, postal note or money order for
the purchase of any ticket, tickets or
part thereof, or of any share or any
chance in any such lottery or gift en-
tprprise shall be carried in the
mail or delivered at or through
any postoffice or branch thereof, or by
any letter carrier; nor shall any news
paper, circular, pamphlet, or publica-
ton of any kind containing any adver-
ment of any lottery or gift enterprise of
| any kind offering prizes dependent upon
| lot or chance, or containing any list of
! prizes awarded at the drawings of any
such lottery or gift enterprise, whether
said list is of any part or of all OF the
drawing, be carried IN the mail or de-
livered by any postmaster or letter car
rier. Any person who shall knowingly
deposit or cause to be deposited, or who
shall knowingly send or cause to be sent,
anything to be conveyed or delivered by
mail IN violation of this section, or who
shall knowingly cause to be delivered by
mail anything herein forbidden to be
carried by mail shall be deemed guilty of
misdemeanor, and on conviction shall
be punished by fine of not more than
5000, or by imprisonment for not more
than one year, or by both such fine and
imprisonment for each offense Any
person violating any of the provisions of
this section may be proceeded against by
information or indictment and tried and
punished, either in the district at which
the unlawful publication was mailed or
TO which it is carried by mail TO- deltv-
cry according to the direction thereon,
or at which 1t is caused TO be delivered
by mail TO the person to whom it is ad-
dressed. -
Sec. 2. That section 1929 of the Re-
vised Statutes be and the same is hereby
amended to read as follows:
''Sec. 1929. The postmaster general |
may, upon evidence satisfactory TO him
that any person or company is engaged |
in conducting any lottery, gift enter
prise, or scheme for the distribution of |
money or of any real or personal prop |
erty by lot. chance or drawing of any |
kind, or that any person or company is |
conducting any other scheme or device |
for obtaining money or property of any |
kind through the mails by means OF
false or fraudulent pretenses, represent
tations or promises, instruct postmas-
tiers at any postoffice at which registered
letters arrive directed to any such person
or company, or to the agent or represent
tative of any such person or company,
whether such agent or representative is
acting as an individual or as firm,
bank corporation or association of any
kind, to return all such registered letters
to the postm aster at the Office at which
they were originally mailed, with the
word fraudulent plainly written or
stamped upon the outside thereof; and |
all such letters so returned to such post
masters shall be by them returned to the
W riters thereof, under such regulations
as the postmaster-general may prescribe
But nothing contained in this section
shall be so construed as to authorize any
postmaster or other person to open any
letter not addressed to himself. The
public advertisement by such per-
son or company conducting
such lottery, gift enterprise, scheme.
or device, that remittances for the same
may be made by registered letters to any
n fir hoD e.
association named therein shall be held
to be prima facie evidence of the exist
ence of said agency by all the parties
named therein; but the postmaster-gen-
eral shall not be precluded from ascer-
tanning the existence of such agency in
any other legal way satisfactory to him
self.''
Sec. 8. That section 404I of the Re-
vised Statutes be and the same Is hereby
amended TO read as follows:
'Seo. 4041. The postmaster-genera
may, upon evidence satisfactory TO
him, that any person or COM
pany is engaged in conducting
any lottery, gift enterprise or schems
for the distribution of money, or of any
real or personal property by lot, chance,
or drawing of any kind, or that any per-
son or company is conducting any other
scheme for obtaining money or property
Of any kind through the mails by means
of false or fraudulent pretenses, repre-
SEN tations, or promises, forbid the pay
nent oy any postmaster to SAID person or
company Of any postal money-orders
drawn to his or its order. or in his or its
favor, or to the agent of any such person
Dr. company, whether such agent is act
ng as an individual or Us fra, bank,
or association of any kind,
and may provide by regulation for the
return to the remitters of the sums
named in such money orders. But this
shall not authorize any person to open
any letter not addressed to himself The
public advertisement by such person or
company so conducting any such lottery,
gift enterprise, scheme, or device, that
for the same may be made {
by meas of postal money orders to any
'ther person, Arm, bank, corporation, r
or ASSOCIATION named therein shall be &
leld to be prima facie evideno of the ex- '
stence of said agency by all the parties 7
famed therein; but the postmaster-geu- 7