‘No letter, postal card or circular concerning any 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 or 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 any 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 not 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 and 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.’
That the defendants, on the ___ day of July, A. D. 1891, at the city of New Orleans, in the state of Louisiana, did unlawfully and knowingly deposit and place in the post office of the United States at the city of New Orleans, in the state of Louisiana, with intent that the same should be sent by the postmaster at the city of New Orleans and conveyed by the mail of the United States to the city of Charleston, in the district of West Virginia, a certain circular concerning a lottery, which circular * * * was intended by said defendants to promote and aid the carrying on the business of said lottery, * * * and which was directed to ‘Lewis Loewenstein, Charleston, W. Va.,’ in a wrapper duly stamped, and which was carried and conveyed by mail to the post office of the United States at Charleston, in the district of West Virginia, for delivery according to the directions thereon, and was intended by said defendants to be so carried and conveyed by *460 said mail to Charleston, in the district of West Virginia, for delivery, defendants well knowing said circular to be one concerning a lottery, contrary, etc.
That defendants, on the ___ day of July, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and ninety-one, at the city of New Orleans, in the state of Louisiana, did unlawfully and knowingly cause to be deposited and placed in the mail of the United States, at the post office of the United States at the city of New Orleans, in the state of Louisiana, with intent that the same should be sent and conveyed by mail to the city of Charleston, in the district of West Virginia, a certain circular concerning a lottery, * * * intended to aid in the business of said lottery, * * * which circular was inclosed in an envelope, duly stamped, and directed to Lewis Loewenstein, Charleston, W. Va., and which was carried and conveyed by the mail of the United States, to the post office at Charleston, in the district of West Virginia, for delivery according to the said directions thereon, * * * contrary, etc.
That defendants, on the ___ day of July, A. D. 1891, at the city of New Orleans, in the state of Louisiana, did unlawfully and knowingly send, to be conveyed and delivered by the mail of the United States, by depositing in the post office of the United States, at the city of New Orleans, in the state of Louisiana, a certain circular concerning a lottery, and with which circular, in the same inclosure and wrapper, when so deposited, was inclosed a certain envelope and cover, intended to be used to convey by express money to pay for tickets and chance in the drawings of said lottery, and which circular and envelope were intended by defendants to promote and aid in the setting up and carrying on of the business of said lottery, * * * and were inclosed together in a wrapper, and stamped with the United States postage, * * * and directed and addressed as follows: ‘Lewis Loewenstein, Charleston, W. Va.,’ and which were carried and conveyed by the mail of the United States to the post office of the United States at Charleston, in the district of West Virginia, for delivery according to the said direction thereon, and were intended by said defendants to be so carried and conveyed by mail to Charleston, in the district of West Virginia, for delivery to said * * *, contrary, etc.
That the defendants, on the ___ day of July, A. D. 1891, at the city of New Orleans, in the state of Louisiana, did unlawfully and knowingly cause to be sent, to be conveyed and delivered by the mail of the United States, by depositing in the post office of the United States at New Orleans, in the state of Louisiana, a certain circular concerning a lottery, * * * intended and designed by defendants to promote and aid in the setting up and carrying on the business of said lottery, * * * and which was inclosed in a wrapper duly stamped, * * * and directed and addressed as follows: ‘Lewis Loewenstein, Charleston, W. Va.;’ and which was carried and conveyed by the mail of the United States to the post office at Charleston, in the district of West Virginia, for delivery according to said directions thereon, with intent * * *, contrary, etc.
That defendants, on the ___ day of July, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and ninety-one, did unlawfully and knowingly deposit and place in the mail of the United States, at the post office of the United States at the city of New Orleans, a certain circular, pamphlet, and publication concerning a lottery, * * * which circular, pamphlet, and publication contained and constituted an advertisement of and for a certain lottery, sometimes called the Louisiana State Lottery Company, and sometimes called the Louisiana Lottery Company, and which were intended *461 and designed to promote and aid in the conducting and carrying on the business of said lottery, * * * and which were then and there inclosed in a wrapper, and directed and addressed as follows, that is to say, ‘Lewis Loewenstein, Charleston, W. Va.,’ and stamped * * *, and were, after they were so deposited, carried by said mail to the post office at Charleston in the district of West Virginia, and were intended to be so carried for delivery to said Lewis Loewenstein, to advertise and aid said lottery, * * * contrary, etc.
That defendants, on the ___ day of July, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and ninety-one, did unlawfully and knowingly place and cause to be placed in the mail of the United States at New Orleans a certain circular, pamphlet, and publication concerning a lottery, * * * sometimes called the Louisiana State Lottery Company, * * * which were intended to promote and aid the business of said lottery, * * * and which were inclosed in a wrapper, duly stamped, and directed to Lewis Loewenstein, Charleston, W. Va., and which were, after the same was so placed and deposited, carried by said mail to the post office at Charleston, in the district of West Virginia, and were intended to be so carried by said mail for delivery to said Lewis Loewenstein, * * * contrary, etc.
‘Three somewhat different offenses are created by the section above quoted: (1) Knowingly depositing or causing to be deposited such forbidden matter in the mails; (2) sending such matter or causing it to be sent by mail; (3) knowingly causing such matter to be delivered by mail.’
‘It might admit of doubt whether any offense against the laws of the United States was committed until the offer or tender was known to the postmaster, and might have influenced his mind. But there can be no doubt at all that, if any offense was committed in New York, the offense continued to be committed when the letter reached the postmaster in Connecticut; and that, if no offense was committed in New York, an offense was committed in Connecticut; and that in either aspect the district court of the United States for the district of Connecticut had jurisdiction of the charge against the petitioner. Whether he might have been indicted in New York is a question not presented by this appeal.’
‘Any person violating any of the provisions of this section may be proceeded against by information or indictment and tried and 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.’
‘The trial of all crimes, except in cases of impeachment, shall be by jury; and such trial shall be held in the state where the said crime shall have been committed.’
*466 ‘In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense.’
‘We cannot regard the right to operate a lottery as a fundamental right infringed by the legislation in question; nor are we able to see that congress can be held in its enactment to have abridged the freedom of the press. The circulation of newspapers is not prohibited, but the government declines itself to become an agent in the circulation of printed matter which it regards as injurious to the people. The freedom of communication is not abridged, within the intent and meaning of the constitutional provision, unless congress is absolutely destitute of any discretion as to what shall or shall not be carried in the mails, and compelled arbitrarily to assist in the dissemination of matters condemned by its judgment through the governmental agencies which it controls. That power may be abused furnishes no ground for a denial of its existence, if government is to be maintained at all.’
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