Fitzgerald leader enterprise and press. (Fitzgerald, Ben Hill County, Ga.) 1921-1964, 1924-07-31
Relationship of News Sheets
and PostOffice Dept. Told BY
Inspector J. Nv. Cole

carried by MAIL shall be fined not
more than $1,000, or imprisoned not
more tan two years, or both; and for
any subsequent offense shall be inn
prisoned not more than five years. Amy
person violating any provision of this
section may be tried and punished Ell
Their in the district in which the unlaw-
full matter or publication was mailed,
or to which it was carried by mail for
delivery according to the direction
thereof, or in which it was caused to
be delivered by mail to the person to
whom it was addressed.
Under the provisions of this act news
papers or ether publications of any
kind containing advertisements of lot
teries, gift enterprises or similar
schemes offering prizes dependant in
whole or in part upon lot Or chance,
or lists of prizes awarded or ITO be
awarded in pursuance of such schemes
and all other matter relating to them.
whether published as an advertisement
or a news item, are declared to be un-
mailable. The terms lottery, gift en-
terprise, or similar scheme offering
prizes dependant in whole or in part
upon lot or chance" as used in this
section have been held to include CUES
sing or estimating contests for prizes
as we'll as drawings and raffles of ev-
cry kind. whether for private gain or
in aid of charitable, educational or re-
Iligious objects. and whether the con-
sideration for chances be money or
other things of value. Schemes in
which prizes are distributed among
purchasers of merchandise, or among
subscribers for publications, through
the medium of drawings or guessing
contests have been declared by the
courts to be lotteries within the mean
ing of this section. The department en-
joins postmasters and all employees
/ handling publications, with the great
est care consistent with prompt trans
mission and delivery and to withdraw
or exclude all such as is found to re-
late to lotteries and like enterprises
lit is not the duty of the postmaster
however to give opinions to the public
las to what's or is not admissible to
the mails under this section, and even
should he transcend his authority IN
this respect and advise a publisher that
certain advertisement or news item
was not within the inhibition OF the
statute, that, of itself, would not rem
der the publisher immune from prose
cution in the event it should be subse-
quently determined that the law had
been violated. When in doubt as to
the AVAILABILITY of any matter within
the purview of this section it is the
duty of the postmaster to withheld
the questionable matter from dispatch
or delivery and to submit a sample. OF
Lit to the Solicitor of the Postotf1ce
Department for ruling. So then 1t is
well for a publisher to exclude from
Ibis columns any advertisement which
lis at all questionable until it can first
be submitted to the Solicitor or other
competent legal authority, rather than
assume the risk of having the entire
tissue of his publication held up by
some watchful postal employee or
POSTMASTER.
TIE strict enforcement OF the anti
LOTTERY statute in this state has been
more difficult during the past year
than at any time during the ten years
I have been connected with the inspec-
ton service. This has been due to the
widespread tendency on the part. OF
merchants and merchants ASSOCIATIONS
to promote gift enterprises and other
questionable schemes invaribly partak-
ING of the character OF a lottery, 10
Induce trade. Various schemes Q. ms
kind have thrived in nearly ever. ity
of the state although in fragrant vio-
lation of state law. 1t has required all
the vigilance of our service to protect
the mails from these insldrous enter
nrises and despite our watchtulnesss IS
o1ated violations have occurred here
land there, due sometimes to ignorance
ion the part of the newspaper publish
lers and sometimes to oversight. Cur
IdeDartment has been extremely indul-
cent in such cases. Our attitude has
been TO overlook the first offense and
to admonish the erring editor or other
nerso n against repetition, winch mas
been uniformly effective. Not lnfre-
ouently however, we have complaints
from publishers whose advertisements
have been submitted and decl&red uh-
mailable and who later discover com
mo To their exchange tables other pup
il;cSt;ons containing the selt-same mat
ter and they Immediately rise to IN
o,,;re how it is that other papers are
permitted to carry this matter. while
thev are prohibited from doing 1t. Inc
only reply that we can make 10 inns
;s that law enforcement agency can
not prevent violations OF the law. Oul
only recourse is prosecution ana we
will not fail to adopt that course, now
lever unpleasant it may be When inc
law is knowingly and perslsten'iy "
o1aned. So far, however. 1t mas oniy
jbeen necessary to call the publisher
ot+ent;on to the fact that such adver-
Using renders his publication unmall-
sbie and himself liable to prosecution
land in no case coming to my KNOW
edge has there been any d1sposition
To ignore the warning.
Tn order that there may be no WIS
understanding and that no publisher
need be misled, l crave your induig-
lence for a few minutes, to outline JUST
what constitutes a lottery within the
LEGAL accegtation of the term.
The Supreme Court of the United
States has quoted the following def
iinition of the word lottery from the
Century Dictionary: "a scheme TOT
raising money by selling canoes &c
ishare in the distribution OF prizes
more specifically, scheme for the DIS
tribution of prizes by chance among
persons purchasing tickets, the cores
lpondingly numbered slips, or lots, rep
Presenting prizes being drawn on day
previously announced in connection
with the scheme of intended prizes. In
law the term lottery embraces all
lschemes for the distribution OF prizes
by chance, such as gift exhibitions
lDrize concerts. etc, and includes var