The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1890-09-24
THE ANTI LOTTERY BILL.

Tie following is the text Of the
anti-lottery bill passed by the Senate
on the 10Th inst -:
No letter, postal card or circular
concerning any lottery, so-called gift
concern, or other similar enterprise Of
fering prizes upon lot or chance Tor
concerning schemes devised for the
purpose of obtaining money or prop
erty under false pretenses, and no list
of the drawings at any lottery or SINH
lar scheme, and no lottery ticket or
part thereof, and no check, draft, bill,
money, postal note, or money order,
for the purchase of any ticket, tickets
or parts thereof, of any share or chance
in any such lottery Or gift enterprise,
shall be carried in the mail or deiv-
ered at or through any post Office or
branch thereof, or by any letter car
rier; nor shall any newspaper, circu-
lar, pamphlet, or publication of any
kind containing any advertisement 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 delivered by any postmaster
or letter carrier.
Any person who shall Knowingly
deposit or cause to be deposited, Or
who shall knowingly send or cause to
be sent anything to be converted or
delivered by mail in violation of this
section, or who shall knowingly caasc
to be delivered by mail anything here
in forbidden to be carried by mail,
shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and
on conviction shall be punished by a
fine of not more than $500, Or by i'm
prisonment for not more than one
year, OF by both such fine and impris-
onment for each offence. Any person
violating any of the provisions of this
section may he proceeded against by
information or indictment aud trial,
and punished either in the district at
which the unlawful publication was
mailed, or to whrch it is carried by
mail for delivery according to the di-
rsction thereon, or at which it is caus
ed to DE delivered by mail to the per-
son to whom it is addressed. The
postmaster general may, upon evidence
satisfactory to him that any person or
company is engaged in conducting any
lottery, gift enterprise or scheme for
the distribution of money or of any
real or personal property by lot,
chance or drawing of any kind, or
that any person or company is con-
Quoting any other scheme or device
for obtaining money or property of
any kind through the mails by means
of false or fraudulent pretenses, repre-
sensations or promises, instruct psst-
masters at any post office at which
registered letters arrive directed to any
such person or company, or to tue
agent or representative Of any such
person or company, whether such
agent or representative is acting as an
individual or as firm bank, corpora
ton or association of any kind, to re-
turn all such registered letters to the
postmaster at the Office at which they
were originally mailed, with the word
fraudulent" plainly written or stamp
ed upon the outside thereof, and all
such letters so returned to such post
masters shall be by them returned to
the writer thereof, under such regula-
tions as the postmaster general may
prescribe. But nothing contained in
this section shall be so construed as to
authorize any postmaster or other per-
son to open any letter not addressed
to himself.
The public advertisement by such
person or company so conducting such
lottery, gift enterprise, scheme or de-
vice, thut remittanccs for the same
may be made by registered letters to
any other person, firm, bank, corpora
ton or association named therein,
shall be held to be prima faoiss evil
dence of the existence of said agency
by all the parties named therein. But
the postmaster general shall not be
precluded from ascer,aining the exis-
tence of such agency in any other le-
gal way satisfactory to himself.
The postmaster general may, upon
evidence satisfactory to him that any
person or company is engaged in con-
dncting any lottery, gift enterprise, or
scheme for tho distribution of money
or any real or personal property by
lot, chauce or drawing of any kind