Arizona republican., 1905-04-19
ADVERTISING LOTTERIES
Business Hen Compromising Both
 Themselves and the Papers.

Hope is not the only thing that springs eternal in the human breast. One other thing is the universal desire oe everybody to get something for nothing and if anybody can succeed in doing it nobody else of course should envy him his good fortune. But 1t is one of the human passions and that wise business men and professional ad vertisers play upon to their fullest ex- tent and the advertiser has finally bumped against the pOstoffice depart ment and got the worst of the bump.
 There have been so many fraudulent enterprises. in which there was not even a chance to win, operated through the mails, that the department has for some years been engaged in a crusdae against them. a crusade that has be- come strenuous but nevertheless neces- sary to head off the tendency of busi- ness men to offer a prize package with every dollars worth of merchandise and the tendency of the people to buy things, not so much for the things themselves as for the hope of getting something else for nothing. The departments later regulations against lotteries include nearly every thing in the nature of prizes and gifts
 
 teries for the buyer has no knowledge
 of whether he will get anything or not. It all depends upon chance and chance is gambling and gambling is fraud and fraud is illegal and subjects both the perpetrators of the chance scheme and the newspaper that advertises it to danger of criminal prosecution.
 Postmaster McCIintock was seen concerning this matter yesterday and and soid that the newspapers were a source of constant worry to him. l through the nature of the advertise ments printed which if the law were ! enforced would subject the paper to ex- ] clusion from the mails and both the
 management and the advertiser to pro-
 secution for it's violation. No particular newspaper is meant and no particular 1 firm is the subject of this story, for nearly all newspapers and nearly all | energetic business houses are among
 the offenders and the department is | laying down hard on the postmaster | for the enforcement of these regula- | tions. It is not desired to work hard | ship on anybody or to move without warning, though warnings have often 1 been given. but the law he says must ! be enforced and if people will not de- | sist they must take the consequences. | That he might not be amiss in his | judgment the postmaster a short time ago clipped from the Arizona papers ! a number of advertisements that he | feared might be construed to come un- | der these regulations and sent them 1 to Washington for a ruling. The reply
 was that every one was a violation
 and might be proceeded against. There
 is no doubt but that these advertisers ! every one of them do all they agree to,
 as does 9 faro bank for that matter, but the element of chance is there and the department refuses to draw a line 1 between one chance and another.
 In replying to his inquiries the de- l partment stated that under a ruling of
 the attorney general for the postof-
 flee department every newspaper
 should be excluded from the mails that
 advertises any sort of a guessing con-
 test. and drawing by lots. of premiums
 prizes. etc. or the announcement of any
 prizes awarded by means of a drawing
 or any scheme of chance, or any ad-
 vertisement relating to any guessing | contest raffle or drawing or premium
 as a result of any chance enterprise
 Under this regulation it will hereafter ! become illegal and be deemed immoral
 to report the result of a church raffie
 drawing or chance enterprise, the same
 as one conducted for the sale of goods
 T. seems that the postofice depart
 n.ent proposes to take a moral stand
 ard that will pinch pretty nearly
 everybody but it seems to be the only
 way to discourage such things and Il
 is a case of obeying the law or getting
 into trouble.