The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1892-03-04
THE LOTTERY FIGHT.
Removal to Nicaragua May Enable
tho Lottery to Continue.
THE EYRSIONS OF THE LAWS.
How tho Pos,oflco Department Pro.
poses to Keep Up tho Fight-.Duycrs
Of1ickcts to bo Fined and lmprls.
oncd..-Mr. Wanamalcr's Ideas for
tho Future ofthc Mail ServIcc.-Pos-
tal Tclcgrapha aud Pneumatic Tubes.

lottery is still regarded rs q living mem
aco by tho postoilico department. Now
heads grow upon tho hydra whenever
thoy arc cut off, and the transfer Of its
abode to Nicaragua restores in largo
measure Its opportunities for carrying
on Its business in tho United States.
That business, 80 far as the mails arc
concerned will DO conducted by sealed
icttcrsand packages, which arc inviol.
able. Tho government authorities can-
not intercept matter 30 sent, and tho
management OF tho gambling concern
will DO safe from prosecution outside
OF Uncle Sans territory. So Il appears
that tho fight is about to assume Il new
and more difficult phase. This country
Will soon DO flooded again with fruc-
tional tickets, and tho new law for pun
ishinX the sendcrs by criminal proceed
ings instituted wherever tho Bpccula-
two securities arc received, will, it is
claimed, be useless.
There ia but one way TO solvo the
problem. Accordingly tho p~ostolicc,
when It finds itself unable to attack tho'
lottery directly, proposes to assail pa
irons OF the swindlo-the purchasers OF
TICKETS in tho United States. No legal
enactment forbids any one to buy a
ticket, but tho law will punish anybody
caught using the mnils for that purpose.
If it is asccrtaincd that you have mailed
u dollar to the lottery company TO pay
for a share in tho gamble. you are liable
TO $500 fine and q years imprisonment.
That is tho penalty for each oflcnso.
Sealed communications being sacred
evidence may be hard to get, but the
department regularly employs n corps
Of the most skillful detectives in the
world, and they have means OF finding
out such things, SO that no person whe
commits this petty crime can feel safe.
They are ready with certain methods
for testing people who may BIO sus-
pccted OF this sort OF transgression.
These tests they declare to be very
different from "decoya'-just MS postal
employees aro Tested by letters sent
through their hands containing marked
money-but the nature OF them they
refuse to disclose. for obvious reasons.
MAY YET REAP A HARVEST.
1t is expected that q few determined
prosecutions against individuals detect
cd in sending money by post for tickets
will brighten people ont OF using tho
mails for this purpose. However, that
will not prevent the lottery concern
from dispatching tickets in bulk by ex.
press from Nicaragua to cities and towns
all oyer the union, addressing them
under seal to agents, by whom they can
be distributed to- purchasers. Thus,
notwithstanding all the difficulties
placed in its way, the lottery may again
reap harvests OF millions OF dollars an
nually in profits obtained from the
sp"culatively inclined in this country.
Making, rs it intends, regular special
drawings for the United States, other
drawings for Mexico, others yet for
Great Britain, and possibly others in
addition for other countries, its gains
are likely to be far greater in tho future
than hitherto. This prospect does not
concern the post office. 1t Is not an in
stitution for the propagation of good
morals, Il its only aim is TO prevent
the mails from being utilized to vicious
ends.
The lottery company, it is said, will
havo no trouble in securing all the priv
ileges it wants in Mexico That coun-
try is tho hotbead OF lotteries OF every
conceivable kind. Not only is there a
great lottery concern i'll operation in
the City OF Mexico, as well as numerous
smaller ones everywhere, but all bust
ness is run more or less on a lottery ba-
sis. Everything in the wayo property,
from real estate to 4 mule, is sold by
rattle, and even tho churches are largely
supported on the same speculative sys-
tom.
POSTAL SAVINGS VERSUS LOTTERY