THE LOTTERY LURE.

Auckland Star, Volume LVI, Issue 232, 1 October 1925, Page 8

THE LOTTERY LURE.

ITS MESMERIC FASCINATION.

TEMPTING THE GOD|S OF

CHANCE. ORIGIN OF THE SYSTiEM. Whether it is that New Zealamders are more gullible, have plenty of .-money, or have the love of a gamble tmore thoroughly developed in them, ceJrtain it is that during the past couple oi months they have had plenty of inv&ations to participate in lotteries. One particular and well-established lottery conducted in Tasmania ha 3 always been freely patronised by 'New Zealanders, despite the laws' of the Dominion, which make it illegiil to take part in any lottery which has, not been approved by our own Minister of Internal Affairs, the Hon. R. F. Bollard, and which by the way the Minister lias now limited to £500 in prize, moneyj. So many "causes" were being made tliei subject of art unions, and the prize money running into £1000 or £2000, that tine Minister reccntlv decided to take action, and £500 will in future be the maximum to be won in any one art union promoted in New Zealand.

It would seem from the nunrber of lotteries being conducted in tho Dominion that there are sufficient opportunities to "put down a brick and pick u\t a house" without patronising any consultations abroad, but should anyone feel inclined to send money away to a foreign country for tickets in a lottery, ample chances are given. Recently literature dealing with three overseas lotteries have readied these shores, the first lot arriving from England, the sqcond from Monte Carlo, and the third from Hamburg. All three will probably be found to be "humbug," and are hardly likely to entice New Zealanders to take the risk of sending money for tickets. Originated at Rome*.

Lotteries, where there is a possibility of getting something big for very little, have a mesmeric fascination for man, woman and child. The gambling instinct is ever with us, and no matter how much the moralists may declaim, people will always be ready to tempt the gods of chance. Rome, where the lottery originated, was lottery mad, and rich and poor alike were mazed with the lure of chance. Nero, the gentleman -who fiddled while Rome was burning, entertained his guests occasionally with lotteries, giving as prizes villas and slaves. IJrom being a form of entertainment at .festivities, the lottery developed until .officialdom began to see in the cupidity of the people an easy way to obtain revenuh, but few countries have seized upon the lottery as a means of raising revenue with such avidity as France. The fiflst letters patent for a lottery in that country were granted in 1530 by Francis '.1., and it proved a huge success. "Cronked" and straight lotteries flourished side by side, and in one lottery three hundred thousand one-franc tickets were sold for prizes worth about a sixth of that sum, the promoters getting the rendainder. - A lottery successfully floated was for the building of a stone bridge between the Louvre and the Fauborg St.. Germain, and a great portion of the ej:penses of the War of the Spanish Succession was raised in a similar manner. ] n connection with the Great Exhibition in 1678 no fewer than twelve million* one-frauc tickets were sold in France tio pay for the prizes for exhibits and wages. The first prize was ionly 5000 francs, and the odds against were 12,000,000 to one!

• Spread to England, The earliest of the English lotteries sanctioned by the Government were held to secure money to carry oith harbour and road works, and to extendi London's water supply. However, tow ards the close of the seventeenth centujry it was found that many people were, investing beyond their means, with consequent distress, and in 1698 lotteries twere prohibited as "common nuisances, by which children, servants and other utj wary persons had been ruined." In ths eighteenth century the prohibition was extended to cover games with dice, such as. hazards. Hard to Kill. However the craze, which ha*d gripped the people, was hard to kill, and the revenue possibilities so patent, that succeeding Governments gave way, and by numerous Acts of Parliament authorised certain lotteries, the prizes taking the form of perpetual or terminable annuities. The average yearly profit to the Government on these" lotteries is put down at £346.000.

There have been constant differences of opinion as to what eonstitm) es a lottery, and decisions of the courts; are constantly being appealed against'