Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1901-08-23
GUESSING coNTEs rs
THE ATTORNEY GENERALS OPINION
ON THE sUBJECT.
No Violation Of Law Prohibiting Use
Of Mails for Advertising Lot
teries, Gift Concerts, &c.

Attorney General Knox has rendered to
the Postmaster General an opinion on the
question whether a certain daily paper In
the west has violated the law prohibiting
the use of the mails for advertising lot
teries, gift concerts and similar enterprises.
The paper some time ago inaugurated
guessing contest. advertising that 1t would
give 1.5OO prizes. aggregating $1,000, to
persons making the nearest estimates of
the number of paid admissions to the pan
American exposition at Buffalo from the
day of opening to the day of closing. Three
special prizes are offered to those making
the best estimates prior to August Is. Sep
TENDER Is and October 10. respectively.
In asking for an opinion from the At
torney General the Post Office Department
refers to an opinion rendered by Attorney
General Miller on October 81, 1900, in which
he held that guessing contest, advertised
by a prominent Cincinnati paper, of a SINH
lar nature to the one now in progress, was
not within the operation of the lottery laws.
The Post Office Department says the re-
suit of that opinion has been unfortunate
and that guessing contests without num-
Der are constantly in operation through the
mails. The department continues: 1T Is
the settled opinion of the officials of the
department who are at all familiar with
the operations of these so-called guessing
contests that they are almost as vicious
and demoralizing in their effects as draw
lHSS OF TdHeS. Iney constitute d great anu
growing abuse in themselves, and lead,
moreover, to countless direct violations of
the law"
Remedy With Congress-.
The Attorney General says that unless
plainly forbidden by law the remedy is
with Congress, and not with the depart
ment. The only question with the depart
ment is whether the present scheme differs
in principle from that upon which Attor-
ney General Miller's opinion was predi-
Gated, or whether the department is pre-
pared to say that Mr.. Miller was in error.
Mr.. Knox then reminds the Post Office De-
partment that Attorney General Griggs
passed upon a similar question from the
department in September, 1900, the guess
ing contest then being for prizes for those
who could guess nearest to the majority of
the successful candidate for President.
Mr.. Griggs held that the contest upon
which he passed was more vicious than
the one passed upon by Attorney General
Miller, but concluded that 1t was impossi-
BILE to distinguish in principle between the
two cases. Mr.. Griggs adhered to the
opinion Of his predecessor.
Mr.. Knox says that in the opinion rem
dered by Mr.. Griggs the latter held that
the accuracy of the guessing would be at
fected to some extent by calculation,
foresight, knowledge, inquiry and infor-
nation" The same considerations, Mr..
Knox thinks, apply to estimates Of admis-
sions to the exposition. The contestants
must go into careful inquiry as TO all ractS
about the exposition. attendance. public in
terest. etc. The Attorney General then
says:
'Such estimates, therefore, while neces-
sarily dependent in many respects upon
chance, are likewise affected by the intel
ligent calculations Of thoughtful OBJ
server. l agree with my predecessors that
a fair construction of the words dependent
upon lot or chance excludes estimates
which are based upon mental calculation,
even though the factors which enter Into
such calculation may be uncertain and
matters Of conjecture. The drawing Of a
lot or the throw Of the die are purely de-
pendent upon chance, for no mental opera
ton can aid in estimating the result. AS
penal statutes must be construed strictly 1
am unable to reach the conclusion that the
giving Of prizes as reward for superior
intelligence in estimates where the human
intellect is exercised in making such esti-
mates is within the purview of the statute,
and the conclusion cannot be affected by
the demoralizing tendencies to which you
REFER