Page:Harvard Law Review Volume 9.djvu/420

392 392 HARVARD LAW REVIEW. observed under what conditions an issue of bonds of this kind is in accordance with existing legislation; we have carefully remarked what issues are legal and valid, and what, on the contrary, fall under the jurisdiction of the penal law, and are invalid by the civil law. It now remains for us to pronounce on the character of sales of lottery bonds which have been duly authorized.^ The transfer of these bonds has raised, and still raises, much controversy. It has furnished the courts with a multitude of cases, all very deli- cate to analyze, and therefore the question presents an extreme interest which demands special attention. The conditions may be formulated as follows. Lottery bonds are undoubtedly in trade, and consequently can be sold in the same manner as bonds to which no lot is attached. But by reason of these lottery chances the sellers often have recourse to different schemes with the intention of interesting a large number of people and attracting buyers. Lottery bonds are popular with the public, which is greedy for all transactions of chance; the greater the chance, the greater the number of speculators. Nothing is simpler for the proprietor of lottery bonds than to modify those which he owns in such a way that the lottery chances can be offered to the public under the most advantageous conditions. A fruitful busi- ness must follow attractive offers. Now, are all these contrivances to be considered lawful ? In France the answer is. No. The trade in lottery bonds is not unrestricted. The sale of such obligations is not a contract in which the terms are definitely fixed by the parties. It is essen- tially controlled by the restriction of the law of 1836. Lottery bonds, says French legal theory, may not be the object of free transfer as other public funds; for the issue of such bonds, con- stituting on the whole a "forbidden lottery" in the acceptance of the law of 1836, was authorized by a special law by way of excep- tion. Now, when a special law infringes in this way that of 1836, it only does so in a certain degree and under certain conditions. It purposes to render a sound loan successful by adding the charm of a contingent gain. It thus gives a certain moral sanction to a human failing which deserves little encouragement, the hope of gain without work. The Legislative Body has permitted the future lender, under certain conditions only, to attach lottery chances to 1 It is needless to say that there could be no question in a sale of lottery bonds which have not been authorized. A lottery bond of which the issue has not been authorized is res extra commercium, and cannot become the object of a valid sale.