Effective supervision is difficult when so radical a misfeasance must be proved before sanction , once granted , can be withdrawn .sx LOTTERIES PROMOTED ABROAD .sx Administrative Practice .sx In the case of lotteries promoted in this country , steps can be taken to bring the promotion to an end .sx In the case of lotteries promoted abroad ( i.e. outside Great Britain ) effective action is con-fined to preventing the entry of advertisements and tickets and the transmission of remittances , and to prosecuting agents in this country .sx In this connection the restrictions on the use of the post for the transmission of matter relating to lotteries are important .sx As stated in paragraph 152 , the Postmaster General considers himself bound to detain any open postal packet which is found to relate to lotteries ; and the Home Secretary by warrant has authorised the detention and opening of any postal packets believed to contain advertisements or circulars relating to lotteries .sx We were informed that under these powers 350,000 advertisements and circulars relating to foreign lotteries ( of which 100,000 related to the Irish Hospitals Trust sweepstakes ) were detained by the Post Office in 1931 .sx It is the usual practice of lottery promoters abroad who desire to sell lottery tickets in this country , to employ a large number of receiving addresses abroad to which persons in this country may send counterfoils of tickets and remittances .sx In this way it is hoped to evade postal restrictions on lottery correspondence .sx The examination of packets detained in the manner indicated in paragraph 152 and information from other sources furnish the authorities with the names and addresses of the promoters and of agencies .sx The Home Secretary may then , by warrant , authorise the opening and detention of letters addressed to such addresses ; and the Postmaster General on this authority opens all letters so addressed and detains such as relate to the lottery .sx The Commissioners of Customs and Excise , acting under section 1 of the Revenue Act , 1898 ( see paragraph 90 ) , detain and destroy any advertisements or tickets relating to a lottery which are observed in the course of their examination of goods brought into this country , where there is reason to believe that the matter is intended for distribution in this country .sx Any person found to be engaged in the sale of foreign lottery tickets in this country is prosecuted or warned to desist .sx The evidence of witnesses from the Home Office and Post Office was to the effect that until the advent of the Irish Hospitals .sx Trust sweepstakes , the steps taken by the authorities to deal with the sale in this country of tickets in lotteries promoted abroad proved reasonably effective .sx Irish Hospitals Trust Sweepstakes .sx An Irish Free State Act , the Public Charitable Hospitals ( Temporary Provisions ) Act , 1930 , authorised the promotion of lotteries , under the supervision of the Minister of Justice , in aid of hospitals in the Irish Free State which complied with certain conditions .sx Under this statutory authority a series of sweepstakes has been promoted by a body entitled Hospitals Trust Limited , usually known as the Irish Hospitals Trust .sx The first sweepstake promoted by the Trust was held on the Manchester November Handicap , 1930 .sx The total subscription , including amounts retained by sellers as commission , was over 800,000 , of which probably over half came from this country .sx Three sweepstakes were held in 1931 , and three in 1932 .sx As will be seen from the table printed in Appendix IV , the total sum subscribed continued to rise until the sixth sweepstake in the series , to which over 5,000,000 was subscribed .sx The subscriptions to the seventh sweepstake showed a slight falling off , and the subscriptions to the eighth sweepstake showed a further decline .sx The provisions of the Act of 1930 expire in July , 1934 .sx A Bill is now before the Dail to make permanent provision for authorising sweepstakes in aid of hospitals in the Irish Free State .sx The total subscribed to the first eight sweepstakes in the series , was about 27,000,000 .sx An estimate based on the proportion of prize winners whose addresses are given as in Great Britain is that about 18,500,000 of this sum came from Great Britain .sx In face of these figures it is clear that the measures taken by the authorities on the lines indicated in paragraphs 160-163 have failed to stop the sale in this country on a large scale of tickets in the Irish sweepstakes .sx The reasons for the inability of the authorities with the powers at their disposal to check the sale of tickets in the Irish sweepstakes deserve consideration .sx In the first place these schemes appealed to the people in this country in a way quite different from the appeal made by the ordinary foreign lottery .sx They were sweepstakes on well-known English horse races promoted in a city in the British Isles under statutory authority .sx Secondly , the promoters of the lottery drew the scheme in such a way as to make it a profitable business to those concerned in it .sx The Irish Hospitals Trust's normal practice is to sell .sx books of twelve 10s .sx tickets for a sum of 5 to their agents , who can thus obtain a profit of 1 on every 6 worth of tickets sold .sx This generous commission ( described as " two free tickets to the seller of ten tickets " ) soon brought into the field an army of agents and intermediaries , whose passage and communications between England and Ireland could not readily be distinguished from the general flow of travellers and communications .sx A further inducement was the award of special prizes to the sellers of winning tickets .sx The prize money is also divided in a way calculated to attract subscriptions .sx In the first sweepstake the first prize amounted to about 200,000 , and in the second to about 350,000 .sx The present arrangement is that there are a number of first prizes , each of 30,000 .sx Presumably the promoters of the scheme are satisfied that the latter arrangement affords the maximum inducement to prospective purchasers of tickets .sx Another inducement is the award of a very large number of 100 prizes .sx By this means many people find that someone in their neighbourhood or of their acquaintance has won a prize , and are thus tempted to take a ticket in a subsequent sweepstake .sx Thirdly , when the authorities succeeded in stopping subscriptions in the post and obtaining evidence against the sellers of tickets in this country , the penalties inflicted were not such as to prove a deterrent .sx As there was no power to forfeit subscriptions to the sweepstake , all the money stopped in the post was returned to the senders .sx As regards the sellers , for the most part small penalties , some-times derisory in amount , have been inflicted .sx The effect of these small penalties was to discourage the authorities and to render it well-nigh impossible to stop the sale of tickets under the existing law .sx Fourthly , there is the factor of publicity .sx Some witnesses contended that the number of people who had taken tickets in the Irish sweepstakes had been enormously increased by the publicity given to these sweepstakes , and that if the Press had given no publicity the authorities could have dealt with them with as much success as they had dealt with foreign lotteries in the past .sx The general view on this matter of the representatives of the Press who gave evidence before us , was that the first of the Irish sweepstakes attracted contributions amounting to more than 800,000 with very little , if any , Press stimulation ; that the subsequent Press publicity was due to the interest in the sweepstake shown by the public ; and that the extent of the publicity was determined by the habits of the people , though in degrees which vary from newspaper to newspaper .sx It was , however , generally agreed that the publicity given to the sweepstakes in the Press , andin particular the publicity given to the results of the drawings and to legal proceedings in which merely nominal fines were imposed , added to the weight of the forces against the enforcement of the existing law .sx In all these circumstances it is not unreasonable to conclude , as one witness suggested , that the authorities have been faced with a situation altogether different from any previously experienced , and that it is not surprising that the means at their disposal for enforcing the law proved inadequate .sx Other Lotteries promoted abroad .sx The success of the Irish sweepstakes has led to the pro-motion abroad of various lotteries with a view primarily to the sale of tickets in this country .sx So far as we are aware , the sale in this country of tickets in those schemes has not so far attained to large proportions .sx GAMING .sx A number of questions dealt with under this heading give rise to considerable complexity , but none of the issues involved are of the same importance as those dealt with under the headings Betting and Lotteries .sx Gaming Houses .sx The evidence of the police was to the effect that in general the existing statutory provisions are adequate , although somewhat cumbersome and capable of improvement in matters of detail .sx Speaking generally , the authorities find no special difficulties in dealing with gaming houses .sx In London , the type of gaming house which is intended to attract persons of means for play at roulette or baccarat is not now common .sx When the police have reliable in-formation of the habitual use of premises for this purpose , the Commissioner issues a warrant under which the premises are entered and the principals arrested .sx Heavy fines are usually imposed on the keepers of such houses .sx In the East End of London and in the poorer districts of some other large towns , houses are kept , frequently by aliens , for the playing of cards for money .sx The police take action when they are in possession of sufficient information to justify a search under warrant .sx Scotland .sx A certain number of clubs are set up from time to time in the working class districts of large towns for the purpose of gaming .sx It is not easy for the police to secure information as to the manner in which such places are being conducted , but where they can be shown to be gaming houses the principals are prosecuted .sx Such clubs do not as a rule last very long .sx The existing law is regarded as adequate .sx Whist Drives .sx As explained in paragraph 99 , a place where progressive whist is habitually played for prizes may be a common gaming house .sx The Home Secretary has , however , informed the police in England and Wales that in his view whist drives as ordinarily con-ducted in public halls are free from the essential mischiefs which accompany gambling , and that police action for their suppression is not called for .sx Unless there is reason to believe that these events are a cloak for gambling of a serious kind , the police do not interfere .sx There is , however , some difference in police practice in the matter in different parts of the country .sx Whist drives for prizes in money or in kind are common , especially in some districts .sx They are frequently conducted in aid of some charitable object .sx In Scotland , the authorities do not interfere with whist drives-which are reasonably conducted for prizes on a small scale , unless there is some objection from the point of view of public nuisance .sx Gaming in Public Places .sx Gaming in public places , the most usual form of which is the playing of pitch and toss by youths , seems to be less common than formerly .sx The decrease is generally attributed to the spread of other forms of gambling .sx The police have no difficulty in dealing with this matter and regard the existing law as satisfactory .sx In certain parts of the Midlands and the North of England , gaming of an organised character exists , sometimes on a consider-able scale .sx " Gambling schools " , consisting of persons drawn from neighbouring industrial areas , meet on moors and other unfrequented places to play games for money .sx The promoters employ paid scouts to keep watch for the police .sx Gambling schools are , however , less common than they used to be , and although the police have some difficulty in enforcing the law on account of the in-accessibility of the places where the " schools " are held and on account of the measures taken to avoid detection , they regard the existing statutory provisions as sufficient .sx