United States v. Wallis

• Decision Date: 07 October 1893
• Docket Number: 27.
• Citation: 58 F. 942
• Parties: UNITED STATES v. WALLIS.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Idaho

58 F. 942

UNITED STATES v. WALLIS.

No. 27.

United States District Court, D. Idaho, Southern Division.

October 7, 1893

Fremont Wood, U.S. Atty.

James H. Hawley, for defendant.

BEATTY District Judge.

The defendant has interposed his demurrer to an indictment based on section 3894, Rev. St., as amended by the act of September 19, 1890, (26 Stat. 465,) wherein is the provision: 'Nor shall any newspaper, circular, pamphlet or publication of any kind, containing any advertisement of any lottery or gift enterprise of any kind, offering prizes, dependent upon lot or chance * * * be carried in the mails.' Also it is further provided that any person who shall knowingly deposit in or send through the mail any such forbidden matter shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor. The indictment has two counts, by the first of which it is charged that defendant did knowingly deposit in the United States mail a newspaper called 'The Post,' which contained an advertisement as follows, to wit:

'Five More Days. Arrangements Completed for Thursday's Event. The Participants of the Drawing. List of Subscribers Entitled to Participate. Five More Days Left for Delinquents to Pay Up. Next Thursday the grand drawing for the elegant Eldridge sewing machine to be given away to subscribers to the Post will take place at noon that day at this office. The plan upon which the drawing will be conducted will be as follows: Tickets, upon which will be printed numbers corresponding with the numbers on the coupons held by the paid-up subscribers, will be placed in a covered box. The fifteenth number drawn from the box will be the lucky number, the subscriber holding which will be entitled to the machine. The person drawing the numbers from the box will be blindfolded, so as not to permit of any partiality were such a thing possible. As the numbers are drawn from the box they will be called out, and then recorded. To make the drawing more interesting, the subscribers holding the last fifteen numbers taken from the box will each receive a copy of the World's Almanac. People indebted to the Post can receive a chance to the drawing any time between now and noon next Thursday by paying up their indebtedness. Herewith are the names of subscribers entitled to participate in the drawing, with numbers held by each. If there should be any errors, we would be glad to be informed of the fact.'

The statute is directed against the use of the mails for the conveyance of any advertisement of 'any lottery or gift enterprise of any kind.' This language is sufficiently comprehensive to include any scheme in the nature of a lottery. It cannot be deemed necessary to here enumerate the many similar definitions given by lexicographers and courts of the term 'lottery.' It may be sufficient to say that it embraces the elements of procuring through lot or chance, by the investment of a sum of money or something of value, some greater amount of money or thing of greater value. When such are the chief...