PRESS OPINIONS.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 43, 14 November 1907, Page 11

PRESS OPINIONS.

THE GAMING BILL. Whilo tliti Gambling "and Lotteries Act Amoiidment Bill which has beun placed before Parliament by the Government will not satisfy those who wish to make all and every form of gambling illegal, it is a measure which deserves general approval as a step towards the elimination of a groat public evil.. It may .bo that gambling ought to bo policed out of civil recognition, that the totalisator should be suppressed as well as gaming houses, lotteries, street betting, sports ground hotting and allied forms; but it may also bo that the habit is so deeply engrained in human naturo that tho wisest course is to limit and restrict it, step by step, without attempting those drastic ex T perimeuts which are so often found to defeat their own ends. However that may-bo, thoso who recognise that gambling has reached a pitch when it should bo encountered by legislative enactments, in tho'interests both of public morality and of individual safety, ought to bo able to combine upon the proposed measure. They may differ afterwards as to the advisability of going further, but there is no good reason why they cannot go so far 'on tho road together. For nothing can be said for tliO' phases of gambling at which the proposed Bill strikes. And even tho totalisator evil would be reduced by the refusal of tho telegraph offices to accept- or to deliver under the conditions set forth instructions as to "investment." Moreover, tho restrictions proposed could bo very generally enforced, and if this , wero done we should ... probably find that gambling would soon cease to bo the demoralising influenco and wholesale evil that it is at present.—"New Zealand Herald." . .

The Government's proposals are designed, therefore, to prohibit shop and street gambling, to localise betting on tho racecourses subject to the: exercise by Racing Clubs of. a discretion respecting the class of person to whom bookmakers' licenses shall bo granted; and to strengthen tho powers of" Racing Clubs in respect to the exclusion of undesirahlo individuals from their grounds. \\o may expect that some exception will .be taken to the extension of tho recognition'of the State to bookmakers, and it must bo admitted that, at tho best, this is an unfortunate necessity. Hut, if it'be-tho fact that it is impossible'to stop betting and that, therefore, tho utmost the State can do is to'regulato it so that it shall bo rondored as httlo harmful and as little obnoxious as possible, arid, since the legalisation of tho totalisator has certainly not had the effect of banishing the bookmaker from New Zealand, it may bo that tho statutory recognition of the bookmaker is an absolute necessity. As against' this, thero is distinct merit in tho proposal that, by tho adoption of a provision unilor which the delivery on racecourses of telegrams relating to betting or to investments on totalisators is prohibited, • tho Stato shall'refrain in future from offonng facilities through tho medium of tho telegraph service for widespread gambling on racing events.—"Otago Daily Times."

THE FLOUR DUTY. Tho principle which it embodies—namely, the interference on tho part of the Government with the question of profits upon commercial commodities—represents so mischievous a breach'of the-rudiments of political economy, that it' cannot possibly succeed in actual operation. Tho incongruity of _ the application of the machinery of the Arbitration Court to an attempt to cope with tho r often lightning-lilre ' fluctuations of .. the world's markets must bo obvious. Tho conditions which in the first instanco prompted the reference to tho' Court might bo on-: tirely reversed by tho time , the decision of tho Court came to be published. Tho price of wheat in New' Zealand is ruled by tho position of tho coreal in 'other parts of tho world. Tho prico to-day—over 6s. per bushel —is certainly unreasonably high froni tho consumer's point of view, yet no power on earth—certainly no decision of the- Arbitration Court—could compel holders of wheat to sell-for- less money if they think tho cornmotlity, is likely to , rise in value. Tho -only 'suggestion wo can mako is that the Prune Minister, adopting the ideas of that sago and sapient body, the Auckland Trades and Labour-Council, should add another clause to the'Bill'to empower t-he.Governmentto grow sufficient wheat to supply' the' requirements' of the Dominion.—"Otago Daily Times.

FLOUR DUTY BILL. The Bill authorises the Governor-in-Coun-cil, or in other'words/the Government oftho day, to suspend the duties when tho price of wheat and flour becomo "unreasonably high." But tho onus of determining whother these products are' "unreasonably high" is thrust upon the already overburdened Court of Arbitration,'which may know nothing about wheat-growing, the cost of, milling, tho state of the market, and reasons for the decline and fall of prices in London, and many other things that enter nito-ihe quostion. In an alleged effort to simplify the task the Government is taking tho Australian price as a standard, although it is a mystery why Australia, should be selected any more than any other country. The. Australian wheat market lias no greater reputation for' stability than any other, nut can it be argued that the price of wheat in Australia always represents the cost of production plus-a fair profit to tho grower, and when we remember that the chief characteristic of the Australian wheat supply is' its irregularity—its abundance ono year and its meagreness another —wo are driven to tho conclusion that a moro unreliable guide for the purposes of this Bill could hardly be found. It is ridiculous to ask any tribunal to give an opinion at 'any given time that the price of wheat is "unreasonably high;" because in the caso of' the wheat market rapid fluctuations often take place, and within a week of the time tho Arbitration Court discovers tho price is "unreasonably high," warranting the removal of the duty, a fall may take place, and then tho farmers would have a right to doinancj its restoration. In this way tho duty might be interfered with half a dozen times in a season, and tho result would bo utter confusion. It is a pity that, at this stago of tho session Parliament should spend any time on a measure of this nature. It would be hotter to let the existing duties stand, and although the burden they impose on the consumer is considerable, anything is bettor than tho foolishness this Bill seeks to perpotuato. —Christchurch "Truth."

■ i THE BIBLE IN SCHOOLS,

The Protestant majority lmvo no right to introduce in tho public schools religious instruction which, whatever tho form it takes, will be offensivo to tho Roman Catholic minority. In the words of Mr. Fowlds, tho: Minister of Education, Roman Catholics were all contributing to tho national system of education, and it would bo a wrong thing to institute something which would inevitably drift into a system of religious instruction. They were on safo lines now. If tho school curriculum is so framed that no offonce can be given to any religious organisation; if it is concerned with secular instruction only, then no charge of partiality cah bo laid against it. It is there to accept or to leave. The Roman Catholic Church has chosen to'found her own schools for reasons that' to her are all-sufficient, and it is' opon to other denominations to do tho samo; but no body or organisation can ask that Parliament will so far forget itself and introduce into tho Dominion the seeds of thoso religious divergences and acrimonies that still rend the Old Country, and from which she is only now slowly but, we hope, surely emerging. ... In this' matter there can be no agreement between the Free Churches and Anglicans on tho one hand and tho Roman "Catholics on the other. Tho diffor(inces are as vital as they are fundamental. Nor do we think it probable that a permanent modus vivondi could be established between tho Frco Churches and tho Episcopalian or Anglican Churches. Certainly thera is no common ground between theso'twp in England, and it is tho absence thero of even the possibility of an agreement that is forcing the Nonconformists to accept tho only possiblo solution —secular education. We cannot regard those who, unintentionally perhaps, are striving to rekjndlo in this new land the religious animosities that shame the old as tho best guides to follow, and wo wolcoino Sir Joseph Ward's plain and unequivocal 'declaration: "The Government could not sco their way to introduce legislation of tho nature asked. , '—Dunedin "Star."