The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1895-10-14
LOTTERIES sCOTCHED
TIL GET-BICH-QUICK SCHEMES,
HOWEVER, HAVE SPRUNG Up.
Report of the Assistant Attorney
General for the P~ostohHce Depart
mens-The Diplomatic Corps.

WASHINGTON. Oct. 1S.-John l.
Thomas, Assistant Attorney-genera for
the Postofice Department, has made his
annual report to the acknowledgement
OF the operations OF his office he says that
during the year 21s fraud" orders were
issued prohibiting the delivery of registered
packages n the payment of money or
ders to certain companies and parties
named. OF these. however, thirty-eight
were duplicate orders. The orders were is
sued against fifty-five lotteries operated by
so-called bond-investment companies,
twelve avowed lotteries, twenty-one lotter-
les OF a miscellaneous character. and 100
schemes devised to defraud the public.
Seventy of these orders were revoked
upon 1t being made to appear that the
parties operating the schemes had aban-
doned them. This left in force at the end
of the year AS orders, original and dupli-
cate. Twenty-eight of the orders issued
during the previous year were also revoked
upon the proper showing.
Mr.. Thomas says that the act of March
s, 1895, further amending the lottery act,
has been most successful and has virtual
ly closed the mails to lottery concerns. He
adds: This act goes further still and
forbids international and interstate carriers
from transporting lottery matter from for
eign countries into this country or from
one state to another. This department
has no jurisdiction, however, TO enforce
that part of the law, and / cannot state
definitely the extent TO which the lottery
carrying business has been checked by the
act, but / am informed that the most,
II not all, of the express companies yield
obedience to IL by refusing TO carry the
prohibited, lottery matter.
1T may be confidently asserted that the
death knell of the ayowed lotteries in this
country has been sounded and their bus
mess has been vastly crippled If not ruined,
but am sorry TO note the fact that many
business men think they must, in order
to succeed. resort to schemes that appeal
to the gambling spirit of the people and
they accordingly sugar-coat their legiti-
mate enterprises with lottery advertise
ments and thus create a desire for other
and more pernici0us modes OF obtaining
something for nothing by hazard or chance.
cent schemes reach the boys and girls of
the land and tend to make them gamb-
lers."
The number of claims allowed for losses
by burglary, fire, etc, were l,306. amount
ing to sl3S, Sss. He again urges a law COM
polling subordinates in postoftices to give
making the postmasters responsible for the
losses incurred by subordinates.
Mr.. Thomas also calls attention to an
important subject in the following: My
attention has been several times during the
year called to dangerous and injurious
matter deposited in the mails and upon
investigation Is was discovered that there
is now no penalty prescribed for depositing
such matter in the mails and indeed there
Is no statute forbidding its being mailed.
Many substances. such as poisons. matches
and other articles liable to ignite or ex-
plode by shock or jar, live and poisonous
insects and reptiles, smallpox virus or
germs of contagious diseases. oils, fatty
substances, liquors, sharp-pointed instru-
ments. some of which are dangerous to
life. health, comfort of body, and others
liable to damage other mail matter
and mail sacks II they should become
loose in the mails"