To The Editor Of The Time...
Sir,-The observation rnade byor corresnondent " F.," in yovr paper of yesterday, on the prcsent Lottery, though perfectly Just. tapPears neverthelessi to be in so far erroneous, as that the distribut- ing of 23,0001. less ,n pTiZ!S r.rMUnts only to a kind of negtive chcating. At all events, he kas overlooked the most remarkabe fes- ture in the present as well as in the preceding lottery, and which feature arto30nting to a positive cheating, you will allow rte te say a few words on the subject. The circumstance that in those two rpe- cions lotteries there is no blank at all, but that the fortunate bolder of a ticket is to be blcssed with a return of SL, would natirally sue- gest thc question whv, on the puirchase of' a tiefet, ;uch 51. are rst itrmnediately deductid, or rather, why they are to be paid at all ? But the honest devisers of these lotterv schemes know what they are absut. There is first always s9nie interest to be got on mnoDeov kept in their cuttody for even a short time: but t,at is not the priuci "l object, their great profit lies in the serarate shillings they by this means draw front the Pockets of those that can least spare them; for it is a well known fact, that skates are al]ways soId hvbher in pro_ portton than whole tickets. To ntake the matter perfectly clear, leL, us isuppose (for the sake of round numbers) the price of a whole ticket to be only 201. In that case, a half woulti most likelv' bt so-l for 101. 4,., a quarter ;I. 8s., an eighth 21. 16s., and a stxteenth lI IOs. Now tAte 51. that are returned after the dravring, make ac- tually the fourth part of the purchase price; astid conseqtently takinR tltat fourth part from the cost of a sixteenth, or from 11. I0s., it would be 7s. 0J. which the silly purchaser pays for form's sake. But when, after the drawinre that profoims Rloney is paid back to him, hereceives it on2y on 5!., which makes 6s. 3d. ; and thus he is, without being aware ofit,impudenrly robbed of Is. 3d. To make now some calcUlLtion as to the amount tO Which thisar,bberv extends, let its suppose, that uf the 20.000 tiCckem, 5,000 are soldr in whole tickets, which, by the by, appears rather a large allowancr-sinca it is hardlv intisanable that 'uy well.informnI person, in his senses, will squander his mnney on sach lotteriesand that the remaining 1,000 tickets are sold in sixteenihs. This wvuld make 240,000 shares,on e2ch of whichl. Mhi.is thu% dexterousI got: making ait4e. ther;a sum of not less than 15'GOOI.,extorted fron the poorer clxaes of the people, who do not nwderisstaid calculating. and should Fne there- fore the more protected against such tricks. And all thlis h. (ene un- der the eves of Government, snd unrder tie name of a State_Lot. tery ' I :n. S,r. vour hunnhts 411. I.lngWUn, VCL. L-. IU24 _ TO THE EDITOR OF Tjf TIMES.