Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-08-04

uteS of mad running In the Eng
N' iish Derby recently. they had
IH scattered golden bursts Of unex-
pected fortune throughout the
world. A janitor in indianapolis spent
dollar and won $S4.754; mall clerk IN Bangor
Me- exchanged q 9s-cent ticket for $4,000;
Dublin widow, mother Of four, drew $l25,OoO;
there were six first prizes Of 100000 or more
whose winners were hidden away In some oo-
scure villages, while o clothier OF Leeds ana
a british major in India each were suooeny
richer by $4,000.
The instinct to take o chance, the nope OF
turning O small sum into fortune, the WISH
for wealth without weary labor are as UNI
versaI as mankind Churches have been built.
Education fostered, culture stimulated by teas
ing the money from people willing to lay
wager. Even today governments still commune
Ia make q pretty penny by encouraging the
gambling fever among their citizens and SUD-
iects.
Uncle Sam, however. stands almost alone IN
the enforcement Of laws which refuse TO permit
the citizen any opportunity to win the golden
embraces of Lady Luck. Still the instinct
evades the laws. Police wink at drawings.
rafaes and lotteries, which are run by the
thousands In every city and hamlet for the
benefit of civic clubs and charities
In the places where men congregate there
A hardly q factory or club which does not
have its base ball pool in season.
Pools based on the last digits Of clearing
house figures or bank deposits shoot up like
mushrooms and wither away. and betting on
horse races fiourishes where it is most rigor-
ously forbidden.
The last legal lottery in the United States
ended July is, 1925, when the final drawings
of the New Orleans lottery bonds took place and
the wheels of fortune we're put away as munich
pal relics of the past.
EUROPEAN cities sell bonds which draw.
~ low rate of interest, rarely more than
per cent The buyer really exchanges the
interest which he could get on some other bond
for chances in a lottery. The prizes run from
IS to 100000.
It is cheaper for these governments to give
these prizes and redeem some Of the bonds in
the drawings held two, three or four times
year than to borrow money outright at the
high rate 1t would ordinarily have to pay.
The drawings are public events. France has
more than 81. 500 100000 invested in premium
bonds Of this class
It Is not only the general public who buy
bonds with q lottery tag, for bankers like the
R0thschilds also invest In large amounts The
Paris representatives of this famous banking
family won 100000 francs In q recent drawing
OF the Marseilles 1877 loan and gave it to the
Door Of the city.
The dean of European lotteries is the state
lottery Of Prussia, which held its 250tt drawing
In 1924. While the hundreds Of thousands
dream of winning possible prize Of $250,000,
the luck Is really all on the part Of the State.
In the division between the treasury, lottery
agents and prizewinners. the gambler has only
two chances cut of five to get his money back.
OF approximately $18.000.O00 spent for lottery
tickets, less than 100000 was returned in
prizes.
This German state goes on the theory that
since its citizens will gamble anyway, it might
as well cut in on the money. OF course, out
side lotteries run by strangers are wicked and
vicious. and it does all 1t can to protect its
people from the Hamburg lottery and the Dam
ish rival which offer better chances to the
sporting bloodS.
In Prussia and other German states where
this lottery operates it is a criminal offense
to buy. sell or own the paper Of competitors.
The flamboyant advertising which brings In
the money conceals in tiny type the fact that
the big money can only be won if the first
prize Of $125 600 is drawn as the last winner
Of the final day. Under those conditions it
doubles itself but the chances are a million
to one against 1t.
The state profits by collecting tax on all
bACACtO uuu ucSuSuli6 AV pei SCAv ALUM 0AA
prizes, the entire deduction in fees and taxes
being 40 per cent of the total income. During
the imitation period. when the prizes sank to
insignificant values. the lottery lost the popu-
larity 1t had maintained for two centuries.
In many families the title to certain ticket
Is hereditary and the same ticket is bought
every year in the belief that some day it must
win the big prize.
THE greatest lottery in the world is held in
SPAIN distributing In one drawing more
than $l4,00O,0O0. This national lottery is held