L O T T E R Y. 



42 Geo. III. c. 47, and renewed in the lottery afts in 1802, 

 and the three following years, but omitted in thofe of 1806 

 and 1807, ought in future to be re-cnafted, without the ex- 

 ceptiou therein made, to Saturday evenings." 



Thefe fuggeftions have been attended to in the lotteries 

 of the lail two or three years, which have been fevcral of 

 thenx drawn in on ■ day, and confequently a confidcrable 

 check has been given to illegal infurances. Still, however, 

 many evils remain, which are fo blended with the natme of 

 lotteries, that it is impoflible to fcparate them, and it may 

 fairly be queftioned, whether, for the fake of a fort of 

 voluntary tax, which is thus impofed upon ignorance and 

 folly, the morals of many indullrious and honefl members 

 of iooicty ought to be expofed to the danger of being en- 

 fnared by the delufive hopes of gain, which the lottery 

 fchemes are calculated to infpirc. With regard to the ad- 

 vantage that the revenue derive from the lottery fyitem, it 

 may hkewife be collected from the reported account above 

 alluded to. Mr. Shewell informed the committee, that the 

 general advance put upon tickets by the contractor, was 

 about ^l. per ticket, not varying much under or over. This 

 is in confideration of the certain lofs on fuch tickets as the 

 contractor is not able to fell, the expcnce he mult neceffarily 

 be put to in th:,'&le of his lottery, and the profit that he natu- 

 rally expetts on luch a concern. The lottery is confidered as 

 fold pretty well, of which jour-fiiths of the tickets are dif- 

 pofed of : the contrattors of the lottery in hand, at the time 

 of this enquiry, expeded not to fell more than 17,000 tickets 

 out of the 25,000, of which it confifted. The tickets in 

 this lottery wei-e fold by the chancellor of the exchequer at 

 17/. and a fraftion, the tickets of which were not worth quite 

 ic/. each ; the contraftor feld it again to the hcenfed 'ottery- 

 office keepers at 20/. IC)S. per ticket, between three and four 

 pounds more than they gave for it. The lottery-ofRce 

 keeper puts on another profit, which, in thofe numbers di- 

 vided in eighths, fixteenlhs, &c. amounts to about i/. per 

 ticket ; whence it is obvious, that the adventurer in this 

 lottery (and this may be confidered as an average of lotteries 

 in general), gamble at a difadvantage of 100 per cent. 

 Government is a gainer of about ^jo per cent , befides about 

 20 per cent, farther, wliich i's fuppofed to be added to the 

 revenue by the poftage of letters, ftamps, duties on adver- 

 tifements, excife duty, on candles, paper, &c. On the face 

 of the concern there appears, therefore, a confidcrable pro- 

 tit to government, which, at a mean, may be eftimated at 

 about 750,000/. per annum ; but it was the opinion of thofe 

 who ara bell qualified to judge of thefe fubjetts, that this 

 increafe of revenue was rather apparent than real ; that the 

 extra parochial taxes, brought on by the diftrefs they oc- 

 cafion ; the decreafed confumption of excifeable articles, 

 juft before, and during the time the lottery is drawing, and 

 for a few weeks afterwards, which decreafe was attually 

 afcertair.ed from competent witnelfes, fully counterbalance 

 the apparent gain. Should this be the true ftate of tlie cafe, 

 what can induce the minifters to continue to give their 

 faniStion to fuch delufive and dangerous fpecies of gambling ? 

 At all events, if the above profit were real, no revenue is 

 obtained by the ftate at half the expence, in point of pecu- 

 niary facrifice to the public, independent of the excellive in- 

 jury to the morals of the people. We have already feen, that 

 the purchafers of legal Ihares gamble at the difadvantage of 

 loo per cent. ; and the infurances are carried on, to the dif- 

 advantage of the public, at about 40 per cent. ; but Itill it is 

 not eafy to eftimate the annual expence which lotteries cod 

 the pubhc ; the following ftatement, however, is hazarded 

 by P. Colquhoun, efq. and fubmitted to the above-mentioned 

 committee. 



Suppofe three annual lotteries, each of 25,000 ? 

 tickets, the public receives - - J 



Contraftors profit at i/. per ticket 

 Lottery-office keeper's profit ... 

 Infurcr's profit SS^P"" <^^"'- °n 1,000,000/. - 



600,000 



75,000 

 100,000 

 333-000 



Total £.1,108,000 



The public are fuppofed to pay for 75,000 

 tickets, including the additional advance 

 on halves, quarters. Sec. . . - 



The lower clafs who infure are fuppofed to 7 



1 



pay 



1,275,000 



1,000,000 



£. 



Deduft prizes - . 750,000 



Deduct prizes obtained by infurers 250,000 



je.2, 275,000 



1 ,000,000 



Lofs to the public to gain 600,000/. to thel 



1 ° f 1,275,000 



revenue yearly - - - -J ' '}' 



This eftimate feems to have been made upon the moft fa- 

 vourable fuppofitiuns, and probably falls confiderably fhort 

 of the real lofs fultained by the public. 



The following is an account of the prices of tickets, and 

 immediate profit derived from them by the Hate, during the 

 fix years from 1802 to 1807. 



Year. 

 1802 

 1803 

 1804 



1805 



1806 



1807 



To thefe fums are to be added the advantages derived 

 from poftages, ftamps, &c. which are generally ellimated 

 at 2/. per ticket, making the mean annual profit about 

 750,000/. But after deduftions are made for the lofies ful- 

 tained 



