Chapter 908.

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CHAP. 908.— An act to amend certain sections of the Revised Statutes relating to lotteries, and for other purposes.September 19, 1890. *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled*,Postal crimes.Abuse of mails by lotteries, etc. That section thirty-eight hundred and ninety-four of the Revised Statutes be, and the same is hereby, amended to read as follows: " “Sec. 3894. No letter, postal-card, or circular concerning any[R.

S., sec. 3891, p. 758, amended](/us/rs/s3891/p758).Lottery, gift enterprise, etc., circulars, etc., not mailable. lottery, so-called gift concert, or other similar enterprise offering prizes dependent upon lot or chance, or concerning schemes devised for the purpose of obtaining money or property under false pretenses, and no list of the drawings at any lottery oi’ similar scheme, and no lottery ticket or part thereof, and no check, draft, bill, money, postal note, or money-order for the purchase of any ticket, tickets, or part thereof, or of any share or any chance in any such lottery or gift enterprise, shall be carried in the mail or delivered at or through any post-office or branch thereof, or by any letter carrier; nor shall any newspaper, circular, pamphlet, or publication of anyNewspapers, etc., containing lottery advertisements, etc., not, mailable. kind containing any advertisement of any lottery or gift enterprise of any kind offering prizes dependent upon lot or chance, or containing any list of prizes awarded at the drawings of any such lottery or gift enterprise, whether said list is of any part or of all of the drawing, be carried in the mail or delivered by any postmaster or letter-carrier.

Any person who shall knowingly deposit or cause to be deposited, or who shall knowingly send or cause to be sent, anything to be conveyed or delivered by mail in violation of this section, or who shall knowingly cause to be delivered by mail anything herein forbidden to be carried by mail, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and on conviction shall be punished by a fine of notPunishment. more than five hundred dollars or by imprisonment for not more than one year, or by both such fine and imprisonment for each offense.

Any person violating any of the provisions of this section may be proceeded against by information or indictment and tried andProcess.Jurisdiction. punished, either in the district at which the unlawful publication was mailed or to which it is carried by mail for delivery according to the direction thereon, or at which it is caused to be delivered by mail to the person to whom it is addressed.” " 466FIFTY-FIRST CONGRESS. Sess. I. Chs. 908, 909. 1890. Sec. 2. That section thirty-nine hundred and twenty-nine of the[R.

S. sec., 3929, p. 763, amended](/us/rs/s3929/p763). Revised Statutes be, and the same is hereby, amended to read as follows: " “Sec. 3929. The Postmaster-General may, upon evidence satisfactoryRegistered letters to lotteries, etc., may be returned. to him that any person or company is engaged in conducting any lottery, gift enterprise, or scheme for the distribution of money, or of any real or personal property by lot, chance, or drawing of any kind, or that any person or company is conducting any other scheme or device for obtaining money or property of any kind through the mails by means of false or fraudulent pretenses, representations, or promises, instruct postmasters at any post-office at which registered letters arrive directed to any such person or company, or to the agent or representative of any such person or company, whether such agent or representative is acting as an individual or as a firm, bank, corporation, or association of any kind, to return all such registered letters to the postmaster at the office at which they were originally mailed, with the word ‘ Fraudulent ‘ plainly written or stamped upon the outside thereof; and all such letters so returned to such postmasters shall be by them returned to the writers thereof, under such regulations as the Postmaster-General may prescribe.

But nothing contained in this section shall be so construed as to authorize any postmaster or other person to open any letter not addressed to himself. The Evidence of agency.public advertisement by such person or company so conducting such lottery, gift enterprise, scheme, or device, that remittances for the same may be made by registered letters to any other person, firm, bank, corporation, or association named therein shall be held to be prima facie evidence of the existence of said agency by all the parties named therein; but the Postmaster-General shall not be precluded from ascertaining the existence of such agency in any other legal way satisfactory to himself.

” " Sec. 3. That section four thousand and forty-one of the Revised[R. S., sec. 4041, p. 778, amended](/us/stat/s4041/p778). Statutes be, and the same is hereby, amended to read as follows: " “Sec. 4041. The Postmaster-General may, upon evidence satisfactoryPayment of money-orders in favor of lotteries, etc., may be forbidden and money returned. to him that any person or company is engaged in conducting any lottery, gift enterprise, or scheme for the distribution of money, or of any real or personal property by lot, chance, or drawing of any kind, or that any person or company is conducting any other scheme for obtaining money or property of any kind through the mails by means of false or fraudulent pretenses, representations, or promises, forbid the payment by any postmaster to said person or company of any postal money-orders drawn to his or its order, or in his or its favor, or to the agent of any such person or company, whether such agent, is acting as an individual or as a firm, bank, corporation, or association of any kind, and may provide by regulation’ for the return to the remitters of the sums named in such money-orders.

But this shall not authorize any person to open any letter not addressed Evidence of agency.to himself. The public advertisement by such person or company so conducting any such lottery, gift enterprise, scheme, or device, that remittances for the same may be made by means of postal money-orders to any other person, firm, bank, corporation, or association named therein shall be held to be prima facie evidence of the existence of said agency by all the parties named therein; but the Postmaster-General shall not be precluded from ascertaining the existence of such agency in any other legal way.

” " Approved, September 19, 1890. Chapter 909: to establish a port of delivery at Sioux City, Iowa. Chapter 909 26 Stat. 466 1890-09-25 United States Government Publishing Office text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain. Digitization Vendor 2026-02-21 51 1 public

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