| In 1930 the Irish Dail, or Parliament, passed an act | | | | any Online lottery ever held, the American public |
| permitting the running of a sweepstakes for the | | | | began begging for Sweepstakes tickets. |
| benefit of Irish hospitals; since then Americans | | | | Initially all correspondence and money transactions |
| have been able to buy tickets in an honest Illinois | | | | between ticket purchasers and the Dublin |
| lottery whose top prize has been well over a | | | | headquarters were conducted by mail. |
| million dollars. | | | | Each year American ticket purchasers mailed |
| The Irish Free State government knew that a | | | | millions of letters containing ticket stubs, checks, |
| sweepstakes operation limited to Ireland could not | | | | currency, money orders, bank drafts, etc., to the |
| be successful and that tickets would also have to | | | | Irish Hospital's Sweepstakes headquarters. |
| be sold in foreign countries, particularly the United | | | | The U.S. Post Office made an attempt to stop |
| States. | | | | these flagrant violations of our Federal anti-lottery |
| Since the government could not itself participate | | | | laws in 1935, when they stopped nearly a million |
| in violation of other countries' anti-lottery laws, a | | | | of these letters and returned them to the |
| private company, Hospitals Trust, Ltd., was | | | | senders. |
| formed to operate the Sweepstakes, and John | | | | About the same time the British Home Office |
| McGrath, a former Minister of Industry and | | | | banned all mail addressed to the Dublin |
| Minister of Labor in the Free State government, | | | | Sweepstakes office. The Sweeps promoters, |
| was named managing director. His first partner | | | | hard hit by these actions, know that if they |
| was a professional bookie, Richard Duggan. | | | | continued the Sweepstakes was doomed, and |
| The Sweeps promoters set up their first | | | | they took immediate steps to set up a smuggling |
| headquarters at 13 Earls- ford Terrace in Dublin, | | | | operation. |
| and their clerical staff originally consisted of one | | | | Today they employ agents in the United States |
| typist Today, the Sweepstakes is easily Ireland's | | | | who receive smuggled shipments of tickets in |
| largest and most profitable business enterprise. It | | | | bulk. |
| has about 1,500 permanent employees and adds | | | | They have devised many ingenious smuggling |
| about 2,500 part-time employees during the | | | | methods, and naturally also pay considerable |
| drawings, which occur three times each year. The | | | | amounts of graft money to ensure safe delivery. |
| plush Sweeps headquarters with its teakwood | | | | Federal agents now and then find such shipments |
| floors is now one of the principal tourist sights in | | | | disguised as legitimate foreign imports. |
| Ireland. | | | | The largest was confiscated in 1948, when 82 |
| Since the Sweeps is legal only in Ireland, the | | | | cartons containing over 2 million tickets were |
| operators cannot use paid advertising to promote | | | | found aboard the transatlantic ocean liner America. |
| ticket sales in other countries and have had to | | | | The most recent big Federal confiscation of |
| invent promotional gimmicks. One of the most | | | | tickets was in 1950, when six men were arrested |
| effective, in the early days, was the floating | | | | for bringing in over a million Sweeps tickets. |
| ashore along our Atlantic coast of a great many | | | | Today, such seizures do not throw a monkey |
| fish-shaped bottles, each containing a paper | | | | wrench into the ticket sales for that drawing, |
| entitling the finder to a drink of his choice at any | | | | contrary to what one might think; the attempt to |
| tavern and asking him to drink to good luck in the | | | | smuggle the tickets in is made months before the |
| Irish Sweepstakes. | | | | scheduled drawing so that there is time to replace |
| Jack Dempsey honored some of these papers at | | | | any confiscated shipment. All the promoters lose |
| the Eighth Avenue bar he then operated in New | | | | is the manufacturing and shipping costs. |
| York City. The bottles created much talk and | | | | The trusted agents who receive these large |
| received a great amount of news- paper publicity | | | | shipments redistribute them to agents throughout |
| because most people believed the bottles had | | | | the country, who, in turn, distribute to sub- agents |
| floated all V the way across the Atlantic. | | | | and sellers in their territory. |
| Actually the Sweeps promoters had arranged to | | | | The ticket stubs and cash pass back through this |
| have them dumped by the thousands into our | | | | organization setup to the major agents, who again |
| offshore coastal waters. Then, in 1931, when the | | | | smuggle the ticket stubs back to Dublin and send |
| press reported that Emilio Scala, a London | | | | the money either by personal check or by means |
| candy-store proprietor, had won $1,773,660 to | | | | of some international money transaction which |
| become the biggest money winner in the history | | | | makes it impossible for U.S. postal or Customs |
| of the Irish Sweepstakes and, for that matter, in | | | | authorities to confiscate the cash. |