§ Sir W. de FRECEasked the Home Secretary whether, in view of the difference of treatment meted out to public sweepstakes, he will reconsider the desirability of inquiring into the whole question of these competitions with 2339W respect to the law, and will thus complete the work of the Betting Tax Inquiry, whose investigations were officially expected to throw light on this issue, but which did not do so owing to the premature end of its activities?
Mr. HENDERSONI am advised that there is no doubt that under the existing law all public lotteries, including public sweepstakes, are illegal. As I have previously said, the desire of the authorities is to administer the law with complete impartiality and subject to difficulties of proof, which are more formidable in some cases than in others, I believe that this is being done. I greatly doubt whether any form of inquiry that I could set on foot would lead to any practical result.