A Treatise on the Police of the Metropolis: Containing a Detail of the Various Crimes and Misdemeanors by which Public and Private Property and Security are, at Present, Injured and Endangered: and Suggesting Remedies for their PreventionColquhoun, Patrick
History
A Treatise on the Police of the Metropolis: Containing a Detail of the Various Crimes and Misdemeanors by which Public and Private Property and Security are, at Present, Injured and Endangered: and Suggesting Remedies for their Prevention
Colquhoun, Patrick
Crime -- England -- London; Police -- England -- London
"Hence it is evident, that on supposition the value of the Prizes
diminish by an equal ratio, every day of drawing, still the actual
value of the Prizes in proportion to the permanent number of the
Blanks will be diminished by the relative proportion increasing at the
rate of about 4666 Blanks every day after the first. Consequently it
must follow, that the premiums of insurance, as well as the price of
Shares and Tickets, instead of acquiring in their value _a very
considerable increase_, must be subject to a very considerable
diminution.
"To maintain the foregoing Plan, No. I. which is a good ground-work
for lessening the evil, I take the liberty (says my Correspondent) of
suggesting the following improvement.
"After the Prizes are drawn each day, let the proportion of the
Blanks, namely, 4666 be drawn also. Let there be a suspension likewise
of five or seven days between each drawing for the sale of Tickets and
Shares, and to give time for insurance. It may be objected, that the
time being thus prolonged the inconvenience will remain the same; to
avoid which, the blank numbers so drawn, must be done secretly and
sealed up by the Commissioners, or, they may be drawn openly but not
unfolded or declared, and if necessary, made public after the drawing;
by which means the insurance against Blanks or Blank and Prize will be
equally abolished."
PLAN III.
"The Evils of a Lottery are many.--The Advantages might, if well
regulated, be as numerous. According to the Schemes that have hitherto
prevailed the _principle_ has been wrong. Since the bait held out has
been the obtaining of an immense fortune, and the risk has been
proportionably great--Insurance has reigned unchecked by all penalties
and punishments that could be devised to the ruin and misery of
thousands. The price of tickets has been fluctuating, and fortunes
have been won and lost on the chance of the great Prizes keeping in
the Wheel: the £.20 prizes have always proved dissatisfactory, as
though there are only 2-1/2 prizes _on an average_ to a blank, yet
such is the uncertainty, that many have scores of tickets without
obtaining the proportionate advantage even from these low prizes. It
is thought, therefore, that a scheme which should offer considerably
more chances for prizes of and above £.50, and which should ensure a
return on all blanks, would be acceptable. If also it could be made to
prevent insuring of tickets and capitals, it seems to be the grand
desideratum in this branch of financeering.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account