OFF-COURSE BETS AND 6 P.M. CLOSING CHOICE OF BAY

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 13, Issue 63, 11 March 1949, Page 5

OFF-COURSE BETS AND 6 P.M. CLOSING CHOICE OF BAY

Bay of Plenty electors, in common with those in most other parts of the Dominion, voted, solidly for off-course betting and for the retention of 6 o’clock bar closing in Wednesday’s referenda. The proportion of those eligible to, vote who went to the polls was lower than might have been expected, indicating perhaps that the questions to be decided were not quite so much in the public mind as the Government had imagined. Throughout the Dominion only 601,171 electors voted, compared with the 1,055,977 who went to the polls in the last general election. In this electorate, 5,369 voted for off-course betting, and 1784 against it, a majority for the proposal of 3585. For the retention of 6 o’clock closing there were 5499 votes cast, against 1705, a majority of 3794. Concerning the liquor poll, it is interesting to note that majorities for the extension of hotel hours to 10 p.m. were recorded at State timber mills at Kaingaroa, Waipa and Waiotapu. Following is a brief analysis of figures from some of the main centres in the electorate:—r

Betting Hotel Hours For Agst 6 10 p.m. p.m. Whakatane 732 296 838 155 Board Mill 79 17 61 35 Galatea. 28 14 27 15 Opotiki 463 213 523 161 Woodlands 25 13 33 5 Taneatua 142 66 168 40 Te Teko 104 .41 123 23 Thornton 53 14 49 18 Edgecumbe 157 70 175 54 Waimana 72 23 76 12 Rotorua 2635 729 2685 879