Scheme

No group of citizens has a livelier conception of its public duties than the Women's National Democratic Club, whose headquarters are in Washington, D. C.

Last week out of these headquarters issued stacks and stacks of envelopes addressed to alert women Democrats all over the U. S. When each woman Democrat opened her envelope, she learned that what the Democratic Party needs is slogans, mottoes, jingles, limericks, rhymes. They had decided that the way to get slogans, mottoes, jingles, limericks, rhymes, is to have a contest, give prizes. They had decided that the most economical way to raise money for prizes is to charge a fee for entering the contest. They had decided that $100 is fair for first prize in a slogan, motto, jingle, etc., contest; $50 for second prize; $5 for third prize--total $155 for prizes. If the entrance fee were set at $1, the contest would be practically sure to pay its own way. The Women's National Democratic Club contest committee therefore announced those prizes and that entrance fee and sat back to watch their scheme succeed.

The first response that the contest committee received, however, was not a slogan, motto, etc. It was a communication from the U. S. Post Office Department.

That Department was convinced that the women Democrats had meant no wrong, but could only conclude that, in their enthusiasm for slogans, mottoes, etc., the Women Democrats had failed to realize that their entrance-fee-and-prize-money scheme constituted what is known as a lottery. Lotteries, as everyone knows, are prohibited from the U. S. mails by law. The Post Office Department would gladly refrain from prosecuting if the women Democrats would cancel the entrance fee feature of their contest.