ANOTHER SWEEPSTAKE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXII, Issue 19125, 17 September 1925, Page 11

ANOTHER SWEEPSTAKE.

MONTE CARLO INSTITUTION.' TATTERSALL'S ALWAYS BUSY. LEGAL FICTIONS AND FACTS. New Zealand cannot complain that she is being neglected by those folk in other lands who conduct sweepstakes. There is, of course, a certain atmosphere of alluring secrecy over the operations of Tattersall's establishment in Tasmania, although it would not be surprising to learn that £IO,OOO goes from New Zealand by every mail to that highly reputable institution. A " ticket in Tatt's " is the sort of proposal that appeals to thousands of New Zealanders who never go to races or think of joining a poker school. Nevertheless an amusing fiction is generally respected as to how one sends the money. Perhaps it adds to the pleasure of the hazard. , Last week the literature and tickets of a Sydney philanthropist .who proposes to run a sweepstake of £losoo for New Zealanders only on a New Zealand horse race, reached Auckland residents who knew nothing about the enterprise, and were vouchsafed only a post office box address. Now the literature and tickets of a sweepstake to be run on the Manchester November Handicap have come to hand from Monte Carlo. Considering the number of art unions that have recently been authorised in New Zealand it cannot be said that the people of this country are being deprived of opportunity of having a try for fortune or at least of contributing toward the fortune of the prize-winners. The institution running the Monte Carlo sweepstake, it is announced, is under the control of the Monegascan Government and the Monte Carlo Casino, which, according to the circular, financially backs it. The cost of a ticket is £l, and to participate all that has to be done is to fill in the counterfoil and send it with the pound to Monte Carlo. Apparently the only form in which money must not be remitted is the postal money-order, and the advice immediately follows: "It is imperative that no reference should be made to the sweepstake in any correspondence." The circular states that the draw will take place in public four days before the race, that ten per cent, of the total money received will be deducted to cover the cost of postage, publicity, Government tax and general expenses, and that the balance will be paid in the following proportion: 55 per cent, to the first, 25 per cent, to the second, 10 per cent, to the third and 10 per cent, to runners: - A bonus ticket will be issued for every 10 subscribers introduced. There is some ground for believing thatNew Zealand, where sweepstakes are illegal and where the prize-money that may be offered by approved art unions is being limited, is suffering an invasion by lotteries carried abroad. Under the circumstances it seems only logical for New Zealand to take steps to prevent this drain being made npon the people's ready cash.