OSWALD BROWN Writes...

Speaking in the House of Assembly back in February of 2008, Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham, commenting on the illegal numbers business in The Bahamas, posed this question: "Are we going to continue to have what is supposed to be an illegal activity openly flaunted in the society every day by thousands of Bahamians?"

He then declared: "We must either enforce the law or change it."

Sometime shortly after that at a "Meet the Press" event held at the British Colonial Hilton, Ingraham indicated that he was not opposed to legalizing the lottery, but it was not a priority of his Government.

Another clear indication that there is a high level of support in the current Government for having a na-tional lottery in The Bahamas, which will include the numbers game, was the suggestion made by the Ministry of Education earlier this year that its proposed 10-point plan for education could be partially funded by a national lottery.

Prime Minister Ingraham subsequently publicly rejected that idea because of the ongoing strong opposition from some sectors of the religious community. This was the very same reason that the late Prime Minister Sir Lynden Pindling, whose immense national popularity would have been put to a test had he done so, did not proceed with proposed legislation back in 1990 to establish a national lottery.

It is about time for the hypocrisy to stop. The illegal numbers game continues to be big business in this country, despite the fact that – while serious crime continues to spiral out of control – when he was confirmed as the Commissioner of Police, Reginald Ferguson seemed to have established, as one of his top priorities, closing down numbers houses.

Despite the various raids that took place, if anything, the illegal numbers game is now an even bigger business. It is almost as if a private war is being waged among the big numbers houses – or webshops, as they are called, obviously to make it sound as if they are "legal" operations – both in New Providence and Grand Bahama.

The war may have been triggered by a relatively new operation that opened in New Providence by starting to pay $900 on a $1 bet on a three-digit number that comes out straight, and all of the established houses in both New Providence and Grand Baha-ma increased their payout from $800 to $900. What's more, in addition to using the numbers selected in the Florida, Illinois and New York lotteries to determine their winners, some houses in New Providence also sell the California lottery.

With Christmas just around the corner, business at all the houses have increased considerably. In Grand Bahama, shortly before noon, numbers houses are packed with customers, who queue up to windows similar to those that exist in banks attempting to place their bets in the early New York lottery, which is around 12:30, followed a little later by the early Florida numbers, and at around 1:30, early Chicago. The same process is repeated later in the day, with late New York first, then late Florida, and late Chicago.

A breakdown of the patrons would surprise most people who are not regular numbers players. Standing in line are smartly dressed individuals, persons in uniforms that indicate that they are from well-established firms, and some persons who appear to be more serious gamblers.

There is no question that this upsurge in business is a result of the poor state of the economy, and some people who are not regular numbers buyers are hoping that Lady Luck would shine on them and they would "hit" a three-digit number straight for $5, which would give them $4,500 and enable them to buy gifts for their loved ones and be able to sing "Joy To The World" with gusto when they go to their traditional places of worship.

Let's face it, the numbers game is indelibly interwoven in the social fabric of Bahamian society. All of the major numbers houses nowadays are totally computerized, with printed ticket slips, and established times have been set for winners to collect their money at designated payout windows.

Obviously, efforts by the police to close down these establishments is a waste of time and injudicious use of law enforcement personnel that can be assigned to fight real crime. The question of whether selling numbers is really a crime is a topic that I have some strong views on because I play the numbers daily and have been doing so for decades.

As I noted in this column when I previously discussed this issue, I lived in Washington, D.C. for 20 years, and played the numbers almost daily in three jurisdictions – The District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia – where the lottery is legal. Only a street separates D.C. from Silver Spring, Mary-land, and it is just a short drive across the 14th Street bridge from downtown D.C. to Crystal City, Virginia.

So on returning home permanently in 1996, it was highly unlikely that I would stop playing the numbers because it was hypocritically considered to be illegal in The Bahamas, although it has been well established in this country since as far back as the 1950s, when the numbers picked in pre-Castro Cuba were used by operators of numbers houses to determine which numbers to make payouts on.

I abhor the fact that I am forced to "break the law" daily because successive governments in this country have been too afraid of a religious backlash that they believe the legalization of the lottery would trigger. Most of our religious leaders, of course are opposed to the legalization of the lottery for reasons that have very little to do with their religious beliefs.

Simply put, for some of them it is a matter of economics. They are convinced that those members of their congregations who are regular numbers players support their habit with funds that would ordinarily be a part of their weekly tithe to the church. Of course, they don't consider the fact that when these members win, they may be inclined to increase their tithe as a way of giving thanks to God for their "good luck."

What's more, many of these same religious leaders lack the moral authority to denounce persons who play the numbers, considering some of the practices they engage in as men of God that are without question not in keeping with their religious calling.

So it is time to stop the hypocrisy. I understand that BaTelCo had been offering a texting service free of charge that provided results of the various daily numbers, but recently have started charging $10 a month for this service. Even though BaTelCo may shortly be privatized, it is still a government-controlled corporation, so if this is true, it is the epitome of hypocrisy that a government entity is seeking to make money on the numbers game at the same time the government is refusing to legalize it.

Someone in Government – or for that matter, the opposition Progressive Liberal Party – should muster up the courage to follow up on Prime Minister Ingraham's suggestion that the law must either be enforced or changed.

Whether that happens or not, will not be a determining factor in whether I continue to play the numbers daily. There is no question that I shall, despite the fact that this has not been a good year, in terms of winning. But you can't win unless you play, and I am keeping my fingers crossed that 307 comes in before Christmas so that my Aunt Maria and Cousin Sylvia, who were responsible for putting me on the right course in life during my boyhood days at Stanyard Creek, Andros, can get a good increase in their annual Christmas monetary gifts.

Oswald T. Brown is managing editor of The Freeport News. You can contact him via e-mail at oswald@nasguard.com