The National tribune., 1907-02-07
THE LOTTERY EVIL.
II Has Grown to Enormous Dimensions
in Spite Of the Stringent Repression
Of the Law.

The lottery evil is becoming so preva-
lent in the United States again that the
Department of Justice is taking heroic
measures to stamp it out. The opera
tions, as recent raids in numerous cities
have demonstrated, are on a very large
scale. The Secret Service officials Of
the Treasury Department estimate that
the Honduras Lottery Company, which
Is the successor of the Louisiana Lot
terry Company, is reaping an annual
profit of s2,50O,000 in the United
States There are agents in all the
large cities, and sub-agents in many
towns all the way from Maine to the
Mississippi River and to the Gulf. Ar
rests have been made in Boston, Chi
cago and Mobile.
A half dozen United States District
Attorneys and Assistant District Attor
neys have been in Washington for near
ly week, working out a plan Of legal
campaign against the offenders. The
Department has been busy gathering
evidence, and the Attorney-Generai be-
ing the lottery operators to book. The
be at Mobile, Ala, or at New Orleans.
The drawings, which take place about
the middle of every month, are at the
Capital of Honduras. The lists of the
drawings, however, have been printed
IN recent years at Mobile, where there
are great presses that run off the nee
essary edition in about an hour. From
there the lists are shipped to various
cities by express.
IN hac Of q 1icfc fhara
crost cornucopias, from which pour
forth streams of gold. The lists also
bear the initials "L. A. S. L." which
stands for Louisiana State Lottery and
indicates to the officials that the Hon
duras Lottery is only the successor of
the Louisiana Lottery, since the strin-
gent laws of Congress in 1895 made it
an offense to transport lottery tickets
in interstate commerce. The profits to
the company are so large that its Off
cials have been willing to take great
risks. The agents, who receive tho
lists and the tickets, are supposed to
receive a big compensation. 1t has been
estimated that the agent of the COM
pany in Boston is clearing something
like 81 1000 a month. Two men in that
vicinity, George A. Cole, of Somerville,
and Benjamin McElroy, have already
been arrested and now await hearing.
Arrests have also been made at Mo-
bile of q man named Graham and
man named Pinac and of Mr.. Hol
brook and a Mr.. Pickens at Atlanta
for aiding the transmission of the tick
cts as employees of the Southern Ex-
press Company. Numerous other ar
rests have been made in other cities.
Late in January the Secret Service
officials became aware of the shipment
of q list of the drawings from Hon.
duras to New Orleans and thence to
Mobile for printing. They also found
boxes of the printed lists at Mobile, and
followed the same in an express car
to Atlanta. Not only was the lottery
and printing office at Mobile raided. but
orders were sent out to raid the lottery
offices in many cities simultaneously.
In Chicago evidences were found of a
business in the sale of tick
ets At Boston there We're two raids.
In one place lists for December and
January drawings were found. and in
another place lists of drawings since
January, 1906. All the evidence the |
District Attorneys in various localities
have gathered is being compared here
at conferences with Assistant Attorney |
General Cooley. John p. Neils. Dis |
trict Attorney at Wilmington, Del, has
been an important figure in the confer |
ence. The lottery printing was for
merly done at Wilmington, and John Il.
Rogers, of Delaware, was formerly in |
iicted for alleged connection with the |
lottery operations there.
The Federal Government has been
aware for some time that the Honduras
Company was operating on large
scale. but the necessary evidence for
was not forthcoming. The
recent raids will probably furnish this
desired evidence. There are thought to
be three counts on which the defend
ants can be brought to bar, or at least
there are three statutes under which Il
may be possible to prosecute them. One
IS a law forbidding the transmission of
lottery materials thru the mails, anoth-
ar law to bar lottery materials from
express companies in interstate COM |.
nerce, and third statute to punish
conspiracy to violate any law of the
United States.
Some very prominent residents of
New Orleans are said to be the leading |
men in the Honduras Lottery. J.