THE GAMING ACT.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 62, 6 December 1907, Page 8

THE GAMING ACT.

$ . SOME PRESS COMMENTS. THE POSITION OF THE BOOKMAKERS. ; (BY TEr.EGEAni—SPKCIAT. COKHESrONDENT.) t Cliristcliurch, December 5. ' Under tho .heading "The Roar of tho ' Ring," tho " Press " refers to tho protests 5 made by tho deputation of bookmakers to • Dr. • Findlay. It says that tho doferenco ; with which thoy woro treated by the loarne<l ■ Attornoy-Genoral was quite in keeping with r tho mnrktxl consideration which they have' I received from tho Government throughout. . Thero was something positively touching ; about tho solicitous mariner in which he > asked if thoy wero keoping tho law, and' tho > unanimity with which they assured him that J in this respect thoy wore pure as the ' ' drivon snow. Tho "Press" also remarks: ' ; Probably tho Frflding Club laid itself open to ' > excoption as regards the site allotted to the J 1 betting ring at tho lato meeting. On somo | ' Australian and English courses bookmakers have to transact their business behind-stout [ iron railings, : but the enclosure in those < cases is withm reasonablo roach of tho race- J goors, and tho sanio" policy should'bo. observed here. With regard to tho outcry i against tho fee charged by somo clubs, ;it \ Geoms extremely probable that the Legis- i laturo, in fixing a maximum fco of £2U a i day, wished to restrict the business to book- •] making firms of somo r'eputd and financial 1 standing. It is al)surd for men of this class; ' who sometimes have as much as £2000 on < their books for a singjo race, to protend that < tho' chargo is prohibitive. Thero aro probably J twenty such firms in Now Zealand, if not I more, who could woll afford to pay it. A feo of £5 only would bo no bar to a class of < undesirable' gentry who might find it difii- i cult and unprofitable to pay £20. A case of < " welshing on a racecourse, to which book- I makers wero admitted on payment of a £5 i feo, occurred only a fow days ago. We fancy ] that when Dr. Findlay looks into tho matter i for himself he will find that tho bookmakers i havo less cause for complaint than they would < have him believe, and, in anycaso, wo think < his scarcely-veiled throat against the clubs I was premature, to say tho loast of it. I Tho " Times," toucliing on tho subject of ' tho proposed pony races at Wellington, says that tho reports suggest that tho now Gaming Act is going to illustrate again ine perils of hasty legislation. If tho peoplo who aro proposing to form, a club in Wellington, for the purpose of carrying on pony racing at Minimar, choose to hold a meeting ovory Saturday aftornoon, and every Wednesday afternoon for tho matter of that, they will bo at perfect liberty to-do so. It does not seem to have occurred to tho Premier, until his measuro had reached tho Committeo stago in tho House of Representatives, that ' thoro was any need to define a racing club at . all, and then he introduced a clauso which will bo of no help to tho authorities in .' checking tho multiplication of unregistered , meetings.'-Tho bookmakers themselves might ; set up such clubs' on tho outskirts of every centro of population in tho Dominion, and ■ drive a flourishing business with , tlio thou- '. sands of people who have acquired tho : gambling habit from the totalisator. These peoplo would not .trouble themselves about '' tho 'character of tho racing. Of course, ' ; Parliament to havo provided that, either tho racing clubs or the bookmakers should bp licensed by tho Minister for Inter- ' na'li Affairs; then the Government ■ would : havo had somo means of suppressing moro hotting , metings, and of realising tho spirit ' of its own legislation. As it is, it appears ■ tj bo in grave danger of raising a worso ovil than tho one if lias attempted to remove, ■ Opinion in Christchurch supports the view of the Gaming Act takon by a Wellington ! solicitor and quoted in The Dominion on ' luesday, to the ClTeet that tho more drastic provisions of tho Act will probably provo inoperative. . ; It is stated by the "Times" that if the : Police authorities take action they will find ' that thoy are powerless to deal with tho bookmakers in the city in tho way that was intended. Some of the local bookmakers have obtained legal advico, which ■ leads them to believe that tho Act is loss' drastic than : is generally supposed. In- tlio meantime, the Act has by no moans stopped street betting, and the ' silver-coin bookmaker, whose operations' aro regarded as particularly injurious to tho community, because ho numbers so many lads among his clients, is plying his trade in Christchurch almost as froely, though a little less openly, than was the case a month ago. [ AUCKLAND GASLIGHT SPORTS. | ] (BY TEI/EGIUrn—MESS ASSOCIATION.) • ; Auckland, Decombor 5. At a meeting of tho Gaslight Sports pro- . motors this morning, it was stated that last i night's meeting rosultecl in a loss, it was ' thereforb ' decided to discontinue the , , sports, ; the clause of tho Gaming Act relating to ' hotting on sports grounds having killed tho venture. ■ ■ , ' ■ -•' i