Omaha daily bee., 1910-02-15

stands 100 chances of losing TO sixty-four
of winning, the tickets find a ready sale.
There are all sorts of systems proposed
for beating the game. but II is usually no
ticed 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 90 per cent coupons, the poor peo-
pie being the regular patrons,
All sorts OF stories of good and bad luck
are rife in the isthmus. Sometimes an
American gets the grand prize. Usually he
becomes 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 program by. throwing up his
lob and returning to the states. In one in
stance a winner OF a grand prize threw up
his lob 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
mad helped to pass the anti-lottery law in
the United States. bought a ticket and won
the grand prize. In another case a promin-
ent official was sitting in a poker game
and lost all he had except his lottery ticket.
At last he threw that into the Jackpot
and lost again. When the drawing came
around that ticket won the grand prize.
The manner of conducting the drawings
is entirely fair. They are held on Sunday
at the lottery headquarters. Forty little
ivory balls are placed in a box. These balls
consist of four sets numbered from zero to
nina A child is called to do the drawing,
and the mayor and two witnesses chosen
from the crowd to assist The child draws
out one of the forty balls, and the mayor
nosts IL on the board. Then another ball is
drawn out and the result Is posted. This Is
repeated until the drawing is complete.
Then II the first number drawn was q,
the second Z, the third 8, and the
fourth Q, the ticket calling for the grand
prize would be numbered 2,796. 1t will be
seen that by this system there Is no chance
for crooked work.
The lottery idea seems TO have come
into existence during the sixteenth CEN
fury. BY 1903 1t had reached such a popu-
larity that 1t was included in the govern
mental 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 in
clination and gambling spirit in the com
munity, and since this has to have an
outlet somewhere 1t should be turned to
good account, and ought to be made to
bear it's share of the public burden. This
reasoning was well and good, but it failed
to consider the fact that lotteries multiply
the gambling spirit a hundredfold. 1t was
this consideration that led to their abolition
in England and America
Lotteries nave been abolished from
nearly every English-speaking country on
the globe, but they still have a firm hold
in Span~ish-speaking countries. Nearly
every one Of the republics of Latin-Amer-
lea has It's bull fights and lotteries. They
seem to so hand in hand, and where one
is abolished the other goes with it. Many
Of the countries of southern Europe still
maintain their lotteries. and they are SO
intricately woven into the warp and woof
OF the finances of those countries that to
abolish them would be like abolishlng a
customs tariff In this country.
In England at one time there we're lot
teries which offered grand prizes amount
ing to 800. 900. At a parliamentary inves-
tigation after one great drawing 1t was
disclosed that there were fifty suicides in
a single night in London which was trace
able directly to the lottery. Societies for
the suppression of lotteries sprang up in
\ American early in the second quarter of
the nineteenth 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 $3.50 900 a year.
The Louisiana lottery was the last one on
United States soil, and was finally ban
ished. 1t moved to Honduras, where il
has had a rather turbulent existence.
Few people realize how narrowly this
country escaped a perpetuation of lotteries
After being denied the use of the mails
the agents used the express service. Their
: congress enacted q law under the inter
state m clause of the constitution
forbidding the transportation of tickets ir
] interstate : comerce. The constitutionalit
l Of the law was attacked, and the supreme
court decided by a vote of five to -four
[ that a lottery ticket Ia an article OF
[ commerce and its transportation could bt
{ entirely prohibited.
T-omorrow-The Presidents Speeches.
T ny PREDERIC j. HAsKIN.