Per Lord Hatherley: “If this were held to be a lottery, nearly every building society and a great many other societies framed upon a similar footing might be found to fall within the enactments against lotteries.”

Conflict between the two cases.

It does not seem easy to reconcile the dicta of the Master of the Rolls with the decision of the House of Lords in the above case. It is true the Master of the Rolls draws the distinction in the case of building societies that in them it is a case of loans to be returned and not of subscriptions to be divided. At the same time in both the cases seem to stand on this common ground—that certain unequal benefits of the society were to be distributed by lot or chance. Since this decision of the House of Lords it must be taken that there is nothing illegal in a company or partnership distributing dividends or profits by drawing lots. In Smith v. Anderson 15 Ch. D., 247, it was admitted that Sykes v. Beadon was overruled by the Wallingford case (but see post for the suggested text of a lottery).

No defence that all present get some benefit.

In two cases it was contended that no scheme could amount to a lottery in which the holders of the tickets all get some value for their money, the amount or value being uncertain; but in both it was held that the element of uncertainty was sufficient to bring them within the Acts.

R. v. Harris.

In Reg. v. Harris[[297]] defendant announced a bazaar to be conducted according to the principles of the Art Union. 5,000 tickets of 1s. each were to be sold; bonuses to the amount of £250 were to be distributed by lot. Every holder of a ticket got some bonus, but some bonuses were more valuable than others. Held by M. Smith, J., that the fact that every body got some bonus did not make it the less a lottery.

Taylor v. Smetten.

So in Taylor v. Smetten.[[298]] Defendant erected a tent, in which he sold packets containing 1 lb. of tea each. In each packet was a coupon entitling the purchaser to a prize, and this was publicly stated by the defendant before the sale. The purchasers were told to come next morning for their prizes, the nature of which were unknown to them. It is not stated in the report whether the prizes were drawn by lot, or whether they were awarded at the caprice of defendant. Held that this constituted a lottery. Hawkins, J., says: “If the coupon alone sealed up had been offered for sale, the purchaser taking his chance whether it represented a pen or a silver pencil case, or if a number written on a slip of paper were sold entitling the purchaser to some article the name of which was written against a corresponding number in an undisclosed list, could any one doubt these would have been lotteries? To use it is utterly immaterial whether a specific article was or was not conjoined with the chance.”

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