Dear Sir,

Is it time for a Cayman Islands lottery to bail government out of the rut and avoid taxing the people?

That might not be a bad idea, provided it is supervised in the UK mother country. God help us all if a Cayman lottery is supervised here in the Cayman Islands. No political dipping in our cookie jar!

This may be the answer to Mr McKeeva Bush’s financial fiasco to resolve the government deficit after all. But it must be done right.

Lottery: a scheme for distributing prizes by lot or other method of chance selection to persons who have paid for the opportunity to win. The term is not applicable when lots are drawn without payment by the interested parties to determine some matter, e.g., the distribution of property among heirs. The absence of any element of skill or play distinguishes the lottery as a form of gambling. Under common law in England and the United States lotteries were lawful. They paid for many public buildings and founded and supported educational, charitable, and religious enterprises.

Private lotteries, which were particularly susceptible to fraudulent practices, were first generally prohibited in the early 19th century. Most publicly sponsored lotteries were discontinued not long afterward. With the adoption in 1890 of a federal statute prohibiting the transportation of lottery tickets or prizes by mail or in interstate commerce, the largest American state lottery – that of Louisiana – came to an end. It was not until more than 50 years later that state lotteries were again legalized in the United States, when New Hampshire authorized (1963) a sweepstakes lottery, the proceeds of which were to go to education.

With the assistance of computers, 42 states and the District of Columbia now operate daily and weekly lotteries with huge payoffs; states also participate in regional and multistate lotteries, ranging from Tri-State Megabucks (Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont) to Powerball (with 31 states and territories). Often the lottery drawings are televised. Lotteries are also lawful in many other countries, some of which jointly operate multinational lotteries.

We need the lottery to generate government revenue.

Conclusion: Why not quickly get public input for a national lottery?

It would bring millions of dollars to the Cayman Islands but should be carefully monitored.

J. Smith
Texas