El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1910-02-14
LOTTERIES IN LATIN
COUNTRIES.
ENGLISH SPEAKING COUNTRIES OUTLAW THEM
The Lottery Down in Panama

so that in a completely subscribed
| drawing the gross profit to the lottery
! company is $2,5S0
l. In spite Of the fact that the ticket
| buyer stands loo chances of losing to
! 81 of winning, the tickets find a ready
sale. There are all sorts Of systems
/ proposed for beating the game, but it
/ is usually noticed that the man who
| has a guaranteed system of getting
ahead is the fellow who is always
/ broke. Most of the ticketS are sold
by 20 cent coupons, the poor people
being the regular patrons.
Stories OF Luck.
All sorts of stories of good and bad
luck are rife on the isthmuS- Some
times an American gets the grand prize
Usually he become such a feverish
gamester that his usefulness TO the canal
is ended and sooner or later he is down
and out. Sometimes he varies this pro-
gram by throwing up his job and re-
turning to the states. In one instance
a winner of the grand prize threw up his
job and prepared TO return home. He
became so drunk on board the ship that
he locked himself in his stateroom and
died. His remains were buried at sea-
A member of the United States senate,
who had helped TO pass the anti-lottery
law in the United States, bought ticket
and won the grand prize In another
in poker game and lost all he had ex-
cept a lottery ticket. At last he threw
that into the jackpot-and lost again
When the drawing came around that
ticket won the grand prize.
Fair Drawings
The manner of conducting the draw
ings is entirely fair They are held
on Sunday at the lottery headquarters
Forty little ivory balls are placed in
box. These balls consist of four sets
numbered from zero TO nine. A child
is called TO do the drawing, and the
mayor and two witnesses chosen from
the crowd assist. The child draws out
one of the 40 balls. and the mayor posts
II on the board. Then another ball is
drawn out. and the result is posted
This is repeated until the drawing is
completed. Thus, if the first number
drawn was the second 7, the third
9, and the fourth 6, the ticket calling
for the grand prize would be numbered
2.796. 1t will be seen that by this sys-
tenn there is no chance for crooked
work
The lottery idea seems to have come
into existence during the 18th century.
BY 1903 it had reached such a popularity
that it was included in the government
budget as a means Of revenue raising.
Every parliamentary budget from that
time TO 1924 contained the lottery. This
was justified on the ground that there
is always a certain amount of vicious
inclination and gambling spirit in the
community and since this has to have
an outlet somewhere it should be turned
to good account, and ought to be made
to bear its share Of the public burden
This reasoning was well and good, but
il failed to consider the fact that lot
teries multiply the gambling spirit a
hundredfold. 1t was this consideration
that led TO their abolition in England
and America
AbOishing Lotteries.
Lotteries. have been abolished from
nearly every EngIish-speaking country
ION the globe. but they still have
firm hold in Spansih-speaking countries
Nearly every one of the republics OF
Latin America has its bull fights and
lotteries. They seem to go hand and
hand. and where one is abolished the
other goes with il. Many Of the coun-
tries of southern Europe still maintain
their lotteries, and they are so intricate
ly woven into the warp and wool Of the
ish them would be like abolishing a Gus
toms tariff in this country.
In. England at one time there were
lotteries which offered grand prizes
amounting to 100000. At a parliamen-
tary investigation after one great draw
ing it was disclosed that there were so
suicides in a single night in London
which were traceable directly to the
lottery Societies for the suppression Of
lotteries sprang up in America early in
the second quarter Of the 18th century,.
They had plenty of work TO do, for in
the year 1882 there were several hundred
lotteries operating in nine of the United
States. with total drawings amounting
to $66.000,000 a year. The louisiana
lottery was the last one on United States
soil, and was finally banished- 1t NOV
ed to Honduras where IL has had q
rather turbulent existence.
Few people realize how narrowly this
country escaped perpetuation of lot
teries- After being denied the use or
the mails the agents used the express
service Then congress enacted law
under the interstate commerce clause |
Of the constitution forbidding the trans
portation of tickets in interstate com
nerce- The constitutionality of the law
was attacked. and the supreme court !
decided by a vote of five 10 four that !
Il lottery ticket is an article OF COM |
merce and its transportation could be /
entirely prohibited.
Tomorrow-The Presidents Speeches.
J. F, WILLIAMS HEADS