225 



LOTTERY SCHEMES. 



LONG experience has shown that men possessed with 

 the gambling spirit (ninety out of a hundred if the 

 truth were known) are not to be deterred from ven- 

 turing small sums in order to win large fortunes, even 

 by the clearest evidence that the price they have to 

 pay is an unfair one. The Government lotteries in 

 this country early put this matter to the test, in a 

 way which possibly may have commended itself to the 

 attention of the promoters of the Scotch lottery scheme. 

 Having decided on a certain set of money prizes and a 

 certain number of tickets, the Government did not 

 offer the tickets to the public for more than they were 

 worth, but for what they would fetch. They seldom 

 failed to obtain from contractors at least 161. for a 

 ticket mathematically worth 101. And the contractors 

 not only showed by offering these sums their faith in 

 human credulity, but practically proved the truth of 

 their faith by disposing of their tickets for 51. or Ql. 

 more per ticket than they had paid Government for 

 them. Thus the Government occupied a very favour- 

 able position. For every million they offered in prizes 

 they received more than 1,600,OOOL ; yet they asked 

 no one to pay an unfair price. They left the contractors 

 to do that, who were not only willing, but anxious to 

 undertake the task of shearing the public. Nor were 

 the public less ready to be plundered than the con- 

 tractors were to plunder them. Government had to 

 in. Q 



