The legions who gamble by means of lotteries are considerably exercised over the following question put at meeting of the Bengal Legislative Council Mr. G. Barton asked: (a) Will the member in charge of the Police Department state whether he is aware that lotteries are conducted by various clubs in Calcutta in connexion with the Derby and the St. Leger races run in England: (b) Have the Government any information as to the names and number of clubs conducting such lotteries; (c) Are clubs which conduct such _lotteries exempt from the operation of section 294A of the Indian Penal Code; (d) If so, what special conditions have been met by clubs to obtain such exemption.
The Hon Mr. H. L. Stephenson replied (a) to (d): "1 am sure that many clubs in Calcutta run sweepstakes for their members in connexion with the Derby and the St. Leger races. The Government has no list of such clubs. In no case have the Government authorized a lottery, and the clubs in question are not exempt from the operation of Section 294A."
The Indian Penal Code provides that whoever keeps any office or place for the purpose of drawing any lottery not authorized by the Government shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to six months or with a fine, or with both, It is possible that the Government may now be induced to take action but the question of stopping members of recognized club is one difficult of solution.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.