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they will urge them to conduct themselves with good order and regularity, as the only means of wiping away the disgrace such acts must necessarily bring on any corps. By command-W. TONGE, Captain, Acting Dep. Adj. Gen.

The grand jury of the June grand court, having on Monday finished the business brought before them, were discharged. Previous to their being discharged, the grand jury drew up a memorial, in very temperate language, which has been left with J. F. Bonnett, Esq. to be presented to his grace the Duke of Manchester, who is at present in St. Mary's, praying him to communicate their wishes to his majesty's Government, that the 2d West India regiment be removed from this island.

LOTTERIES.

First Report from the Committee of the House of Commons, on the Laws relating to Lotteries-Ordered to be printed April 13, 1808. The Committee appointed to inquire how far the evils attending lotteries have been remedied by the laws passed respecting the same; and to report their observations thereupon, and upon such further measures as may be necessary for remedy thereof; and who were empowered to report their opinion thereupon, from time to time, to the house ;-having been employ ed in collecting information, and examining witnesses on the matters referred to them; and having duly weighed and considered the same, have come to the following resolutions :-Resolved, That it is the opinion of this Committee, that (in case it shall be thought expedient to continue state lotteries) the number thereof in each year should be limited to two lotteries, of not more than 30,000 tickets each; that the number of days allowed for drawing, instead of ten, the present number, should be brought back to eight for each lottery, the number fixed in 1802: that the number of tickets to be drawn each day should be uncertain, and left to the discretion of the commissioners of stamp duties, and kept secret till the close of the drawing each day, care being taken, as the lottery proceeds, not to leave too great a number undrawn on the latter days of drawing, but that one moiety or upwards be drawn on the four first days thereof.- Resolved, That it is the opinion of this Committee, that no person should be allowed to deal in lottery tickets without a licence for that purpose from the commissioners of stamp duties, and that the provision to that effect, in the second section of 22 Geo. III, cap.

47, repealed in 1802, and not renewed in the late acts, should be re-enacted, with this addition, that every licensed lottery office keeper should be allowed to take out from the stamp office, in addition to his own licence, a limited number of licences for agents, with a stamp duty of about onetenth of that paid by himself, in the proportion of two such agents' licences, for every 150 tickets shared by him at the stamp oflice; and that all persons should be forbidden, under a heavy penalty, to act as agents for any lottery office keeper, or to deal in lottery tickets, except persons so li censed. Resolved, That it is the opinion of this Committee, that in order to prevent persons setting up licensed lottery offices as a cloak for carrying on illegal insurance, the number of tickets required to be shared in each lottery, in order to entitle the parties to a licence, should be extended from thirty to one hundred and fifty; and that such licences should be renewed for every lottery, upon the parties continuing to share a that number of tickets.-Resolved, That it a is the opinion of this Committee, that the. limitation of hours during which lottery offices may be open for the transaction of business, viz. from 8 o'clock in the morn. ing till 8 o'clock in the evening, enacted by 22 Geo. iii. cap. 47, and renewed in the p lottery acts of 1802, and the three following years, but omitted in those of the two last years, ought in future to be re-enacted, without the exception therein made with respect to Saturday, when lottery offices ought to be shut at as early an hour as on other evenings.-Resolved, That it is the opinion of this Committee, that all persons concerned in hawking about lottery tickets and shares for sale, in distributing handbills respecting lotteries otherwise than in the offices of licensed persons, in illuminating lottery offices for outside show, in exhibiting lottery schemes and bills upon boards, carts, or carriages, in town or country, should be subjected, on conviction before a magistrate, to a considerable penal. ty, and in default of payment to imprisonment for a limited period.--Resolved, That it is the opinion of this Committee, that the exemption of licensed lottery office keepers, from the jurisdiction of justices of the peace, and police magistrates, by inserting in sec. 34 of the last lottery act, the words, "if not licensed to divide tickets into shares in the manner aforesaid," is inexpedient, and ought to be discontinued; and that such lottery office keepers ought in future to be subjected in common with other persons to such jurisdiction.-Your

committee are still engaged in collecting evidence on the subject of clandestine insurances and other illegal practices, which, notwithstanding the measures adopted at different times for their prevention, appear still to be carried on to a considerable extent; but not having finished their inquiries, they defer for the present making a final report on the matters referred to them.

Second Report on Lotteries.

The committee, &c. having made a Report to the house, in the month of April last, at the conclusion of which they informed the house, that they were still engaged in collecting evidence on the subject of clandestine insurances and other illegal practices; which, notwithstanding the measures adopted at different times for their prevention, appeared still to be carried on to a considerable extent; having collected all the evidence which they have deemed material for the formation of a judgment upon the different points submitted to their consideration, have agreed upon the following Report.-Your Committee beg to call your attention to the evidence contained in the appendix, and more particularly to that of Mr. Wood, an officer appointed and paid by government, under the title of Inspector of Lotteries," from whom your Committee might have expected to derive the most material and satisfactory information upon all the matters referred to them; and more especially upon the steps he had lately taken in the execution of the duties of his office. It is manifest, however, that since the year 1802, when the scheme of the lottery was altered, the inspector of lotteries has performed no duties; and he has declared to your Committee that there do not appear to him to be any duties incumbent upon him to perform. Your Committee have been further informed by Mr. Wood, that he believes, by the regulations adopted since the year 1802, the evils arising from the lottery have been done away, and illegal insurances suppressed. But the exa mination of many other witnesses has proved to your Committee that the information so given, by what your Committee had a right to rely on as the most competent authority, is unfortunately altogether erroneous; and your Committee have collected the reasons why information more to be depended upon has not been obtained from the source in question; for the details of which they refer you to the evidence itself.-Your Committee are compelled to state, that the evils of clandestine insurance appear to them to prevail to a much greater extent than they had reason to suspect when they made their

first report in the month of April last; and it now appears fairly questionable whether the number of persons concerned in such practices has materially diminished, or the sums adventured have been at all decreased. The greater privacy with which the transactions are conducted of course makes every inquiry into their existence, exceedingly difficult, whilst it produces combination, and renders the invention of any real remedy the more hopeless.-Your Committee have applied themselves with great assiduity to that part of their instructions by which they are directed to report upon such further measures as may be necessary for the remedy of the evils attending lotteries; and they submit to the house some account of the law, together with such observations and suggestions as have occurred to them thereupon.-An act was passed (22d Geo. iii. c. 47) and was intituled, "An act for licensing lottery office keepers, and regulating the sale of lottery tickets." The breach of the law was punished by penalties, recoverable be fore two magistrates," and the usual powers were given for the recovery of the same, in case of non-payment, by warrant of distress and sale, and for want of sufficient distress, the offender to be sent to the house of correction, for any time not exceeding six months nor less than three, unless the penalty should be sooner paid." A power of mitigation was given to the magistrates, and no penalty could be recovered, unless the offence had been committed within twelve months preceding the commencement of the prosecution.-No alteration in the law, with respect to illegal insurance in lotteries, was made until the year 1787, when an act (27th Geo. iii. c. 1.) was passed for rendering more effectual the laws now in being for suppressing unlawful Lotteries. In the preamble to the last mentioned act, the 8th Geo. I. c. 2. the 12th Geo. II. c. 28. and the 22d. Geo. III. c. 47. are recited; and it is further recited, "that great difficulties have arisen upon the methods of conviction of offenders against the said recited acts before justices of the peace, and many evasions of the said recited acts are daily put in practice;" and it was by the 2d sect. enacted, that from and after the passing of said act, no pecuniary penalties incurred by any person concerned in Lotteris should be recovered before any justice, b. might be sued for by action in any of the Westminster, and one moiety of t ties, when recovered, should be the use of his majesty, and the c to the person who should sue fo and power was given in every su

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sions of that act had been perverted to the purposes of extortion, and had been productive of very serious evil.-In order to counteract this new evil, the 30th Geo. III. c. 62, sect. 38 was passed, directing that no action should be commenced or prosecuted, except in the name of the Attorney General-In consequence of this limitation, very few

hold the offenders to bail, for any sum not exceeding £500."--All persons engaged in illegal insurance might also, under the authority of the 3d sect. of the last mentioned act, be deemed rogues and vagabonds, under the 17th Geo. II. c. 5.; and power was given to the magistrates before whom any person should be prosecuted as a rogue or vagabond, to commit the person so pro-actions have, as appears from the evidence secuted to the house of correction, there to remain until the next general quarter sessions; and the justices are then to investigate the merits of the case, and to proceed according to the provisions contained in the 17th Geo. III.-In consequence of the representations which were made, of the extent to which common informers, aided by attor nies, had abused the powers given by the 2d sect. of the 27th Geo. III. c. 1. it was enacted, by an act passed in the 33d Geo. III. c. 62. sect. 38. "That from and after the commencement of the said act, it should not be lawful for any person to commeuce or prosecute any action for the recovery of penalties inflicted by any of the laws touching or concerning Lotteries, unless the same should be commenced in the name of His Majesty's Attorney General," and by sect. 40 of the same act it was enacted, "that if any person should be brought before two magistrates, and should be convic4ed of any offence against the statute of the 27th Geo. III. whereby he should be adjudged a rogue and vagabond, the said magistrates should commit such offender to the house of correction, there to remain for any space of time not exceeding six calendar months nor less than one month, and until the final period of the drawing of the Lottery, in respect whereof such offence should be committed; and that the proceeding should be without appeal, and not removable by certiorari, or otherwise, into any court whatsoever."-No evidence has been given to the committee to shew what were the difficulties which occurred in the conviction of offenders under the 22d Geo. III. c. 47, and the acts recited therein; but it appears from the preamble to the 27th Geo. III. c. 1, that difficulties had occurred, and that many evasions of that act had been put in practice. It is therefore reasonable to presume that the provisions of that act had been found insufficient to suppress the practice of insuring in the Lottery. In the hope therefore of more effectually suppressing the evil, the 27th Geo. III. c. was passed; but it appears from the evidence of Mr. Estcourt, and more especially from the letter from the UnderSheriffs of Middlesex addressed to him, and contained in his evidence, that the provi

given to the committee, been commenced since the passing of the last mentioned act, although there is no doubt that Insurance in the Lottery is still carried on to a great extent. — The evidence which has been given with respect to the practical inconveniences resulting from the provisions of the 27th Geo. III. proves, that it would be impotic again to have recourse to the provisions of that act, and yet it is very difficult to sug gest any middle course between limiting the power of commencing actions to the Auterney General, and giving that power to common informers. In the one case, there will probably be reason to complain of inactivity in enforcing the law, and in the other, of a corrupt and mischievous perversion of it. It might perhaps be proper to authorize the police magistrates, and the magistrates of the city, to direct actions to be commenced, when evidence to warrant that direction shall have been given upon oath before them. This however would be a novel and perhaps an improvident power to grant, and considerable difficulty would occur in carrying the principle into effect. By the 27th Geo. II all persons engaged in illegal insurance might be treated as rogues and vagabonds, under the 17th Geo. II. c. 5; and the magistrates had the power of committing them to the house of correction until the next general quarter sessions. It appears from the evidence given to the committee, that in the interval between the commitment and the trial, the witnesses were generally tampered with or removed, and conviction be came impossible. In order to obviate this difficulty, a power was given by 33 Geo. III. to two magistrates, to commit such persons to the house of correction for any period not exceeding six months nor less than one, and until the end of the drawing of the Lottery, in respect of which the offence had been committed; and the proceeding was without appeal, and not removable by certiorari or otherwise into any other court. From this enactment, it appears that the legislature has been under the necessity of granting very large and extraordinary powers to magistrates, in order to diminish the evil arising from insurance in Lotteries, and the circumstances which gave rise to it shew that no pecuniary

Deans are wanting to enable those who are engaged in this practice to evade the punishment of the law. -Your committee have to lament that it is not in their power to furtish to the House any more satisfactory resalt of this part of their labours: but when Ris recollected that for many years past the attention of the most acute and ingenious persons, well acquainted with the whole of Be Lottery system, both legal and fraudulent, toder the auspices of successive ministers, have been directed to this object without mecess; that it has been represented to joz committee, that the lottery and illegal intrances are inseparable; that the former annot exist without the latter for its suport; that a system of connivance in those ets which the law prohibits pervades all anks concerned, from the persons contractg with government under the law, down to be meanest wretch employed in the violation fthe law, and its most ordinary victim: our committee did not enter upon this ter with much prospect of success, and not therefore feel any very great disapointment at the issue; they are persuaded be house will not impute to them any want fattention to the subject, or zeal in the Becution of their duty.-In truth, the founion of the Lottery is so radically vicious,

your committee feel convinced that, der no system of regulations which can be etised, will it be possible for parliament to dept it as an efficient source of revenue, and at the same time divest it of all the evils

calamities of which it has hitherto p:oted so baneful a source.-A spirit of advenare must be excited amongst the community, order that government may derive from ta pecuniary resource. That spirit is to be becked at a certain given point, in crder hat no evils may attend it-the latter object as not hitherto been attained, with all the ins which have been bestowed upon it. Your committee are of opinion, that its ttainment is impossible. -The ingenuity of persons interested in breaking the law, is ways upon the watch for its new enactments, and has hitherto always baffled the gacity of the legislature. Added to which, there can be no hope of greater purity amongst the persons employed to detect and bring the offenders to punishment than has hherto been experienced, or than now exists. The statute book is burthened with regulations entirely repugnant to the spirit of the constitution, rigorous and oppressive in the extreme, which, if they are ever executed, fall only upon the ignorant and destitute, whilst the wealthy and more proffigate hold them in utter contempt: and this

unseemly state of things is allowed to co tinue, in order that the state may derive a certain annual sum from the partial encouragement of a vice, which it is the object of the law, in all other cases, and at all other times, most diligently to repress.-In the mean time your committee find, that by the effects of the Lottery, even under its present restrictions, idleness, dissipation, and poverty are increased, the most sacred and confidential trusts are betrayed, domestic comfort is destroyed, madness often created, crimes, subjecting the perpetrators of them to the punishment of death, are committed, and even suicide itself is produced, as will fully appear in the evidence submitted to the House. Such have been the constant and fatal attendants upon State Lotteries, and such, your committee have too good grounds to fear, will be their invariable attendants so long as they are suffered, under whatever checks or regulations, to exist?-The question naturally occurs to your committee, whether any pecuniary advantage, however large or convenient, can compensate to a state for the amount of vice and misery thus necessarily produced by the levy of it?-The answer to this question is submitted to your wisdom and deliberation. But in order that the House may come to a decision, in every view so important to the interests and happiness of the community, without prejudice, your committee cannot conclude without expressing a decided opinion, that the pecuniary advantage derived from a State Lottery is much greater in appearance than in reality. When we take into consideration the increase of poor's rates arising from the number of families driven by speculations in the Lottery, whether fortunate or otherwise, to seek parochial relief, the diminished consumption of exciseable articles during the drawings, and other circumstances deducible from the evidence, they may well be considered to operate as a large deduction from the gross sums paid into the Exchequer by the con

tractors.

On the other hand, the sun raised upon the people is much greater in propor tion to the amount received by the state, than in any other branch of revenue.-No mode of raising money appears to your committee so burthensome, so pernicious, and so unproductive; no species of adventure is known, where the chances are so great against the adventurer; none where the infatuation is more powerful, lasting, and destructive.-In the lower classes of society the persons engaged, whether successful or unfortunate, are, generally speaking, either immediately or ultimately tempted to their ruin; and there is scarce any

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condition of life so destitute and abandoned, that its distresses have not been aggravated by this allurement to gaming, held forth by the -Your committee are conscious that they are far from having exhausted all the grounds upon which it might be urged, that the Lottery ought not to be resorted to as a financial resource. The reasoning upon them appears to your committee to apply with peculiar force to the situation, the habits, and all the circumstances, of a great manufacturing and commercial nation, in which it must be dangerous, in the highest degree, to diffuse a spirit of speculation, whereby the mind is misled from those habits of continued industry which insure the acquisition of comfort and independence, to delusive dreams of sudden and enormous wealth, which most generally end in abject poverty and complete ruin. If, after all that has been stated, and a perusal of the evidence, the House shall think proper to sanction the adoption of the Lottery in any future session of parliament, your committee recommend to your consideration the various suggestions contained in their two reports for the alteration of the law, from which they are willing to hope, at least, that some beneficial selection may be made. But they cannot flatter themselves with the expectation that they have been much more fortunate than the able persons who have applied themselves with so much industry and so little success to the same subject, and to whom the public are indebted for their attempts to correct the evils which, in the opinion of your committee, can only be done away by the suppression of the cause from which they are derived.

Resolved, That it is the opinion of this committee, that (in case it shall be thought expedient to continue state lotteries) the number thereof in each year should be limited to two lotteries, of not more than 30,000 tickets each; that the number of days allowed for drawing, instead of ten, the present number, should be brought back to eight for each lottery, the number fixed in 1802 that the number of tickets to be drawn each day should be uncertain, and left to the discretion of the commissioners of stamp duties, and kept secret till the close of the drawing each day, care being taken, as the lottery proceeds, not to leave too great a number undrawn on the latter days of drawing, but that one moiety or upwards be drawn on the four first days thereof. Resolved, That it is the opinion of this committee, that no person should be allowed to deal in lottery tickets without a licence for that purpose from the commissioners of stamp duties, and that the provision

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to that effect, in the 2d section of 22 Geo. III. cap. 47, repealed in 1802, and not renewed in the late acts, should be re-enac ted, with this addition, that every licenced lottery office keeper should be allowed to take out from the stamp office, in addition to his own licence, a limited number of licences for agents, with a stamp duty of about one-tenth of that paid by himself, in the proportion of two such agents' licences, for every 150 tickets shared by him at the stamp office; and that all persons should be forbidden, under a heavy penalty, to act as agents for any lottery office keeper, or to deal in lottery tickets, except persons so li cenced.-Resolved, That it is the opinion of this committee, that in order to prevent persons setting up licenced lottery offices as a cloak for carrying on illegal insurances, the number of tickets required to be shared in each lottery, in order to entitle the parties to a licence, should be extended from thirty to one hundred and fifty; and that such li cences should be renewed for every lottery upon the parties continuing to share that number of tickets.-Resolved, That it is the opinion of this committee, that the limita tion of hours during which lottery offices may be open for the transaction of business, viz. from 8 o'clock in the morning till 8 o'clock in the evening, enacted by 22 Geo. III. cap. 47, and renewed in the lottery acts of 1802, and the three following years, but omitted in those of the two last years, ought in future to be re-enacted, without the exception therein made with respect to Saturday, when lottery offices ought to be slut at as early an hour as on other evenings.Resolved, That it is the opinion of this committee, that all persons concerned in hawking about lottery tickets and shares for sale, in distributing hand-bilis respecting lotteries otherwise than in the offices of licenced persons, in illuminating lottery offices for outside show, in exhibiting lottery schemes and bills upon boards, carts, or carriages, in town or country, should be subjected, on conviction before a magistrate, to a considerable penalty, and in default of payment to imprisonment for a limited period.-Resolved, That it is the opinion of this committee, that the exemption of licenced lottery office keepers, from the jurisdiction of justices of the peace, and police magistrates, by inserting in sec. 34 of the last lottery act, the words, " if not licenced

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to divide tickets into shares, in the man"ner aforesaid," is inexpedient, and ought to be discontinued; and that such lottery office keepers ought in future to be subjected in common with other persons to such jurisdiction.

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