The Evening Mail. TUESDAY, MAY 23, 1876.

Oamaru Mail, Volume I, Issue 27, 23 May 1876, Page 2

The Evening Mail. TUESDAY, MAY 23, 1876.

Of all the extraordinary law 3 in force in New Zealand at the present time, perhaps one of the most extraordinary is that regarding lotteries and art \uiions. The authorities in the various Provinces hold different views on the legality or otherwise of these lotteries or games of chance. For instance, in Auckland "sweeps," lotteries, and prt unions are canned on under the very noses of the authorities, and no notice whatever is taken of them. In a recent issue of the " Cross" we leam that the Superintendent and the Comnrisi stoner of Police have sanctioned a grand art union to assist the funds of the Eacing Cl«l», and to raise money for some other purposes in connection with public amusements. On the other hand, if we turn to a late file of the " Otago Provincial Government Gazette" we find that under the head of " Lotteries" the 23rd section of the Town and Country Police Ordinance is published for general information, givi ing full particulars of all the pains and I penalties liable for nn infringement of the '■. law. ~Sovr r if this is not an anomalous I state of things in relation to one of our j Colonial Acts, we don't know what is. In Auckland a man may invest in a | Catcntta sweep, a lottery, or art xuiion, and do so with the full concurrence of the Superintendent and Commissioner of ; Police, but in Otago, if a little mild speculation is indulged in on a big race, ; even under the name of ajsoire'e, the I police are down upon the poor unfortunate proprietor of the lottery, and either put a stop to it, or bring him up before ! the Magistrate. It is only the other day ; that a case of the kind came on for hear- : ing, and the defendant was found guilty I of a misdemeanour under the Act. What strikes us as being so unfair in the operaI tion of the law is that these art unions are permitted at church bazaars, and fetes in aid of charitable institutions, and the investors are swindled in the most barefaced manner. The law allows a lady to sell yon a guinea ticket for the twentieth part of a chance to win a wax doll worth ten sliillings, and winks at the mild swindle, but if a person invests in a ticket • for some prizes amounting in the aggre-" gate to £I,OOO, then the Magistrate tells yon that the public must be protected. Now there is a delicious inconsistency about tliis state of tilings, which we confess we cannot understand. Acting on the old principle that what is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander, we fail to see the difference between speculating in a well-conducted racing sweep, and investing a guinea ticket for a pair of fiveshilling worked slippers. Perhaps, as

charity covers a multitude of sins, it also frames the law to suit the voracious appetites of these bazaar-hawks. Our contemporary the "Bruce Herald" thinks that the Provincial Government has published this information in the "Gazette" on lotteries in order to put a stop to the pious swindles that hav.e been going on lately for the benefit of churches. "We wish we could believe our contemporary's surmise to be a correct one. Our own opinion is that the matter has been brought forward at the present time to prevent, if possible, a little speculation on the Tradesman's Races to come off in Dunedin to-morrow. As we have said before, if the lottery business is to be stopped in Otago, let the prohibition extend to pious swindles as well as sporting ones, and not make fish of one part of the community and flesh of the other.