New Britain herald., 1926-07-20
Reform Element Ob- jects To Newspaper Practice Which Is En- outraged By United States Government.
Gambling on Figures Can not Be Stopped Because No Statute Is Violated, Department of Justice Finds.
BY GEORGE H. MANNING

A A-CnIt4 h. MANNING
 tWashlngton Bureau of N. B. HersId0
 Washington, D. C., July 20-Regu- lar publication of the balance of the United States treasury is required by the United States constitution and by several acts of congress. is practice which has been followed since the organization of the treas ury is of great benefit to bankers and financial interests, and no sur- sestion has ever been made con- corning its illegality.
 These facts were made plain by treasury officials today in response to special inquiry prompted by the threat of the Civic Safety league of New Britain 10 have the publication Of the daily treasury balance stop ped as illegal.
 At many periods during the cen tury and half of the treasury's existence the treasury balance has been made subject for gambling. and attempts to stop the gambling have been made from different sources, but no official suggestion has ever been made that the pub lication of the balance be stopped.
 The method used by gamblers using the treasury balance is similar to that used by passengers on ocean liners in betting on the distance the ship will travel during the day or iby miners in Alaska betting on the exact hour when the Ice will break in the Yukon. A pool is formed usually at 50 cents an entry, and each member has a guess as to the exact figures CT the last four fig ures in the next treasury balance. The bettor making the closest guess wins the pot.
 Cannot Be Stopped
 Many times this practice has been called to the attention of the treas ury, but 1t is not within that de- partment's jurisdiction and the de- partment of justice has found that the gamblers do not violate the fed eral lottery acts, do not use the United States mails. do not operate
 
 breaking no law enforceable by the federal government.
 The publication of a periodical treasury balance is as old as the treasury itself. In fact, the United States constitution, in article I, sec tion g, says: "A regular statement and account of the receipts and ex- penditures of all public moneys shall be published from time to time"
 This provision does not use the word balance and neither do various laws dealing with the matter, but it is a recognized practice of account ing to figure the balance in every statement of receipts and expendi- lures
 First Law Requiring Report | In 1791 congress passed a reso- lution requiring that the secretary of the treasury make an annual re- port to congress of the condition of the treasury during the previous fiscal year. This resolution was supplanted by a law in 1894 and such an annual report has been , made every year.
 In 1S44 a law was passed that a complete statement of the public finances be printed every quarter in at least one daily newspaper In the city of Washington, and that on the first of every month the secretary of the treasury should publish in one paper the last preceding week ly statement of the condition of the treasury. These two laws are still on the statute books, but the statements are no longer published in the form of paid advertisements. as 1t is held that the provisions Of the laws are met by the publication
 and public circulation of the daily
 treasury statement issued by the
 government printing office. Useful for Business Men
 This daily statement. which in
 cludes the balance, was first kept
 In manuscript form simply for the
 information of the secretary of the treasury During Grover Cleveland's S first administration, about 1885.
 and after the establishment of the government printing office, this daily statement was got out in printed form for distribution
 throughout the treasury department and to other government officials or others interested. Its value as a , financial and business index was , soon recognized and its publication became general.
 The daily treasury statement in ) its present form is four-pags
 printed leafiet giving a complete ) summary of the days transactions [ of the public funds. Financial papers publish large parts of il . daily.
 Gambling Practice Old The practice of betting on the
 exact figures of tho treasury balance . goes back to the time when the