THE IRISH HOSPITALS' SWEEPSTAKES
[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] SIR,—In your issue of April 6th you implied that the above organization had " drained " 118,500,000 out of Great Britain, when you stated that "the first eight of these lotteries drew from this country alone no less than L18,500,000." Now the actual amount by which the sweep- stakes have benefited at the expense of Great Britain is a simple calculation, viz., the difference between British sub- scriptions to and withdrawals from these eight Sweepstakes, so I invite you to substantiate the statement quoted above by giving your readers these respective total amounts.
Furthermore, The Spectator does not strengthen its case against the Sweepstakes by suppressing from its readers material facts to a controversial subject, viz., the evidence, which with the passage of time will grow increasingly impres- sive in volume, to be seen in Dublin and elsewhere today of an extended, reorganized and modernized Hospital System—to
• The Spectator, no doubt, a monument to "massed gambling," to a great many other people, a welcome boon.—! am,
Sir, &c., F. J. O'DorirrELL, F.R.C.P.S. Rathfarnham, Co. Dublin.
[The figures were taken from the report of the Royal Com- mission. It is true that some of the money comes back in prizes. But what goes out is a certainty ; what comes back is a gamble.—En. The Spectator.]
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