Ganda

GANDA, a Bantu tribe of East Equatorial Africa. The Hamitic invaders, while remaining the light-skinned aristocracy, have been much more absorbed by the local Bantu who form the in 183o, Sweden in 1841 and Switzerland in 1865, but they are still common in many continental countries. The most important in the world is the Christmas "gordo" at Madrid, and the most generally popular are the Calcutta and the Irish sweepstakes on the result of the Derby. Lotteries have also been made illegal in Alaska (1899), Hawaii (1900) and Porto Rico (1902).

In England authorized lotteries were established as early as 1569, and from 1709 to 1824 the Government annually raised by lotteries large sums, averaging yearly from 1793 to 1824, £346,765. The prohibition of lotteries in general acts did not affect lotteries established or specially authorized by statute, but now the only lotteries which would be legal are those complying with the stringent conditions of the Art Unions Act 1846. The activity of parliament indicates the extent of the evil. The Act of 1698 was followed by a numerous succession of Acts, culminat ing in the Betting and Lotteries Act of 1934. In 18o2 the definition of lottery was extended to include little-goes and any game or lottery not authorized by parliament, drawn by dice, lots, cards, balls, or by numbers or figures or by any other way, con trivance or device whatsoever. Raffles and sweepstakes come within this definition and are illegal, and many devices by news papers and tradesmen to attract customers by offering prizes have been suppressed. Thus to sell goods with the benefit of a chance of securing a prize, or with the promise of a prize the value or nature of which depends on chance is an offence even though full value be given for the purchase price. Similarly a competition the result of which depends on chance is illegal. If, however, the result depends on skill, the competition is not a lottery, and or ganizers of competitions have been ingenious in keeping within the letter of the law while offering the public all the excitement of a lottery. Between 1920 and 1926 huge sums were raised, usually for charitable objects, by the offer of large cash prizes but since then the public appetite for such schemes has declined and several ambitious schemes have involved the promoters in loss. The 1802 Act is aimed at the habitual use of a place for a forbidden purpose, but in 1823 the sale of lottery tickets is made in itself an offence. The advertisement of foreign or illegal lot teries was forbidden in 1836 and 1844 and, if detected, tickets in and advertisements of foreign lotteries are treated by the Customs as prohibited goods. The Gaming Act, 1845, greatly facilitates the search of suspected gaming-houses and the proof that they are such, and in 1854 further provisions were enacted to facilitate conviction and to provide summary penalties. Both public and private gaming houses come within the statutes but a single instance of playing an unlawful game for money in a private house is not an offence.

No action can be brought in England on an English security given in settlement of gaming debts contracted where gaming is lawful (Moulis v. Owen, 1907, I K.B. 746), and probably not on a foreign security, by reason of the Gaming Act, 1835. But if by foreign law governing a gaming transaction a gaming debt is valid, the debt can be enforced in England (Saxby v. Fulton, 1909, 2 K.B. 208).

Gambling in Stocks and Shares

or in commodities falls within the Gaming Acts, but buying or selling by way of specula tion is not penalized in any way unless the shares or stock of a joint stock banking company are being bought or sold, when the provisions of Leeman's Act, 1867, must be observed. The test is whether, although the transaction is in form commercial, the real intention of the parties is to make a mere wager on the price of the shares or commodity at a date fixed by the contract. The form, however, of all bargains on the Stock Exchange is calculated and intended to preclude people from setting up a Gaming Act defence, as a contracting party is entitled to call for delivery or acceptance of the stocks or shares named in the contract. But in many cases dealings with "outside stockbrokers" or "bucket shops" have been held to be mere wagers although the contracts purported to give the right to demand delivery or acceptance. The courts are entitled to examine into the true nature of a trans action.

In Scotland the courts refuse to try actions on wagers. The acts of 171o, 1835, 1906 and 1922 extend to Scotland, as do the Lottery Acts except that of 1698. The 1853 Act was extended to Scotland in 1874, and wide powers to suppress gaming houses, street betting, lotteries and gaming are conferred by the Burgh Police Act, 1892 and 1903. The weight of judicial opinion is that the Gaming Act 1845 does not apply to Scotland. In Ireland the law is substantially as in England but the provisions for a betting tax do not apply to the Irish Free State and the 1928 Act does not apply to Ireland. It is the custom in Northern Ireland, how ever, to pass legislation which closely follows that in England. In 1923 the Irish Free State passed an act in the terms of the Gaming Act, 1922, repealing S. 2 of the Gaming Act, 1835.

See Brandt on Games (1872) ; Oliphant, Law of Horses, etc. (6th ed., 1908) ; Coleridge, Law of Gambling (2nd ed., 1913) ; Schwabe, Stock Exchange (19o5) ; Melsheimer, Stock Exchange (4th ed., 1905) ; Bewes, Stock Exchange Law and Practice (191o) ; Gregorio Leti, Critique sur les loteries (Amsterdam, 1697) ; J. Dessaulx, De la passion du jeu (1779) ; Endemann, Beitrage zur Geschichte der Lotterie (Bonn, 1882) ; Larson, Lotterie and Volkswirtschaft (1894) ; J. Ashton, History of English Lotteries (1893) ; Annual Report of the American Historical Association (1892). (F. G.) Except in four States, where some form of wagering on horse racing has been legalized, all gaming and wagering is illegal in the United States, although devious plans have been evolved in many sections to evade existing laws and permit wagers, especially on the racing of horses or dogs. Lotteries were permitted in some States as late as 189o, when the last authorized lottery passed with the demise of the famous Louisiana Lottery. Despite the fact that all forms of gaming with cards, dice, roulette wheels, or other mechanical devices are forbidden, they are carried on sur reptitiously throughout the country generally.

Canada, although barring bookmakers, has legalized the mutuel or "iron men" machine system for handling of betting on horse races. The system is under strict government supervision and is permitted where racing is conducted and on races run within the club enclosure only during the authorized meeting days assigned each club by the government.

Mexico, with the most pliable of wagering laws on the con tinent, shares with Cuba the distinction of being the centre of winter racing for North America, with huge racing establishments at Tia Juana and Juarez. Havana is the racing, as well as the government, seat of Cuba.

Horse Racing.

Of all forms of betting in the United States, horse racing attracts by far the greatest number of bettors, and has resulted in the creation of many large syndicates for the pur pose.

In the major cities these groups, in many instances, have their headquarters in steel encased rooms as protection against the "hijacker"—a comparatively recent product who preys upon successful gamblers or violators of other national prohibitory laws. Powerful influences have been built up by these syndicates and in some cases hundreds of thousands of dollars have been expended by them in order to secure the election of State officials known to be favourable to retention of legislation permitting betting on horse races or dog races.

In Kentucky, Maryland, Illinois and Nevada, the four States where race betting is legalized, the mutuel machine system, or some modification of it, is used at the racing tracks. In this system the bettors make their own odds, as against the old book making system where definite, established odds against the chances of the various entries in a race are offered by the bookmaker.

In the mutuel system the bettor places his money on the horse (or dog) he favours. The money bet on all entries is then divided, less the "take," or percentage to the track management, among those who placed money on the entries who finished first, second and third.

Many times the amount of money bet by attendants at a race track is wagered daily in poolrooms with bookmakers, in prac tically all cities. The bookmaker, who is of course operating sur reptitiously, may, if he finds he has received more bets than he feels he wants to handle, "lay it off," through an agent at the track. Then, too, the huge sums bet by gambling syndicates go into the betting machines at the track through a betting com missioner who, much more skilled in rapidly computing odds at the last moment than the average racegoer, waits until he can determine a close approach to the exact odds and then bets the money for his syndicate.

The percentage taken by the management varies at various tracks. In Mexico the bettor is further handicapped in his chances for return by the additional deduction required by the govern ment over that taken by the track owners. In the United States the percentage taken • is from 51 to r r%; in Canada it is about 7% and in Mexico 54% by the management and 7% by the government.

In States not authorizing the mutuel system two plans are used to evade the law. In the certificate system, the bettor "buys an interest" in the horse, or dog, and is compensated proportionately if his choice is a winner. In another plan of evasion pictures of the various entries are sold to the bettors, pictures of the winning animals being bought back by the management at a price de termined by the odds resulting from the total amount of money bet. Authorities in many States have, however, secured court ruling against these plans as illegal and in other cases have been the order, followed by long drawn out court battles as to the legality of the system.

A third method of handling bets, where forbidden, is the oral system. In this, used extensively at Eastern tracks, no money is paid the bookmaker by the bettor at the time the bet is placed. Both parties depend on the loser to pay off the following day.

In the dissemination of information on racing, both to the public and to professional gamblers, thousands of persons and elaborate systems are employed. The compilation of charts show ing past performances of all entries is gathered daily at a tremen dous expense. These charts are published by leading newspapers except where such publication is forbidden by State law. Then, too, an army of "clockers" or timers watch the daily training and performances of race horses at the various tracks. This informa tion goes to two sources : to professional gamblers and syndicates for their own information, and to "handicappers," employed by newspapers to make selections of probable winners for the follow ing day's racing. These selections are then published by the papers for the benefit of their readers. The network of telegraph wires used to convey this information from the various tracks rivals in magnitude those of the great press services which bring the world's news to the newspapers. Gambling syndicates have their own leased wires, running direct from the tracks into their head quarters, so that they do not have to share their information with anyone else.

The handling of bets at all dog racing tracks is on the same basis as at the horse racing tracks, but has not the ramifications of the latter, very few bookmakers, away from the tracks, handling bets on dog racing, as compared to the thousands who accept bets on horse racing.

Lotteries or Pools.

Various forms of lotteries or pools also are played daily by hundreds of thousands in the larger cities, especially among the smaller gamblers. "Policy" and other lot teries which pay on terminal numbers of daily bank clearings, United States treasury balance and sales of shares on the Stock Exchange, attract them. Agents for these pools are widespread. It may be a woman or girl who daily canvasses bettors in her immediate neighbourhood or among her circle of friends, or the keeper of a little delicatessen or candy store who will accept the pennies of children from a nearby school. And the aggregate wagered daily in these small sums constitutes a tremendous total.

Professional Baseball.

Professional baseball proves another medium for the gambler, both large and small. Although, strictly opposed by law and club owners, oral betting is practised in base ball parks, and pool tickets on the total number of runs scored each day by various combinations of teams listed on the ticket are sold in all principal cities. Large amounts are bet also by gamblers and syndicates on baseball and other sporting events, both professional and amateur. The extent to which this has been carried was illustrated in 1919 when, it was charged, several members of a major league baseball team accepted money from a gambling syndicate to "throw" a World's Series to their op ponents. All were driven from organized baseball as a result of the ensuing investigation.

Slot Machines.

Slot machines and other mechanical devices, once legalized, have been driven to secret quarters in recent years. The same is true of punchboards, which award money or mer chandise prizes to those who punch winning numbers from the holes in the board. Keno or Lotto is permitted in some sections for the raffling off of articles, particularly in holiday seasons. Authorities are not inclined, in a good, many cases, to enforce the law against it where no money prizes are offered and especially if the raffle is held by members of some club or society.

Cock-fighting.

Cock-fighting and pit fighting of dogs, once legal in the United States simply because there were no laws against them, have for many years been illegal. Both are now obsolete in the United States except for rare instances.

Cock-fighting, once a national sport and gambling medium in Cuba, is now outlawed but carried on surreptitiously. In Mexico the practice goes on as usual. (C. M. M.)