PRESS OPINIONS.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 67, 12 December 1907, Page 4

PRESS OPINIONS.

THE BOOKMAKERS, t'arliamont evidently intended to allow bookmakers to carry on their calling under regulation, hoping by this means to confine betting to the racecourso, nnd.it is the duty •of the clubs to give reasonable facilities to enable -this; .intention to be carried- out; Probably tho Feilding Club has 'laid itself open to exception as regards the site allot-" -ted to the .betting ring at the late, On somo Australian and English courses; wo believe,' bookmakers have to transact their business behind stout iron railings. But the enclosure in these cases is within reasonable roach of the race-goers, and the same policy should be observed here.. With regard to tho outcry against the fee charged by some clubs, it seems extremely probable that tho Legislature, in, fixing a maximum fee of £20 a day, wished to restrict the business to bookmaking firms of 3omo repute and financial standing. It it absurd for men of this class, - who sometimes hevo as much as £2000 on their books for a single race, to pretend that tho chargo is prohibitive. There are probably twonty such firms in New Zoaland, if not moro, who could • well afford to pay it. A feo of £5 only would be no bar to-a class of undesirablo gentry, who might'find it difficult and -unprofitable to pay r £2o. A' caso'of "welshing" en a r racecourse to which bookmakers wero admitted on payment'of-a £5 fee, occurred only *a : few days ago. Wo fancy that when Dr; Findlay looks into tho matter for himself ho will find that the bookmakers have less cause for complaint than they would have him beliovo/ond in »,ny case we think that his scarcely veiled threat against tho clubs was premature, to say the-least of it.—Chri3tchurch "Press."

It promised rathor well for the bookmakers, giving fchom a status they had not before on joyed, but .tho racing . clubs Have proceeded without loss of time, to damp, its promiso in that direction, and hcnce tho grievances which tho bookmakers hare been ventilating. That tho attitudo taken up by the Foilding Club, for instance, inspired presumably by a profound desire to protect and onhanco ita revenue, was not unduly hostilo to tho bookmakers is.hard to beliovo in face of tho oxpre6scd intention of the will of the. country, and it has formed. ;prcItoxt for,, the.-..fabuko and warning, ored to racing clubs in general by :ihe-Prinio Minister" .and-: \tho Attorney-General.jAiWf Dr. Findlay's:-pointed reminder ■as to tho powers of the Colonial Secretary in i the matter of ' cancelling totaiisator licenses, the clubs will no doubt be prepared to pay a little moro attention than heretofore to the spirit of section 35 of tho i Gaming Act, compliance with tho provisions of which ia apparently by no means merely, optional upon clubs authorised to uso tho totaiisator." It, is no doubt unfortunate-that it has .been necessary for tho Prime Minister to explain that in the new Act thoir clerks ive.ro not placod in the same category as bookmakers oxcept as far as tho penal clauses woro concerned. The term "bookmaker" is not interpreted anywhoro in tho Act as meaning a bookmaker and his clerk, and in. their attempt to treat' tho clerk as a separate book-; maker clubs have not been long in finding-a joint in tho armour of tho bookmaker's: now position undor -tho Gaming. Act.-.--..--They, havo been rebuked,v, but, as wo romarkod; before, tho porfcction of the provision made Act for all .contingencies is not emphasised.; •As ■to .the .question of an, enclosure -forribook-i makers ;nt .raoa meetings, harnion.yc.on uns subject appears to bo merely- a matter-re-qtfiring the exercise of a certain amount of judicious' consideration on the part of tho olubs,—"Otago Daily Times," . WHERE IS IT TO END ? ■>< In tho rush and scramble thnt marked the closo of tho 1907-session, trio House spent an evening debating, tho.'l'ublic.; Work® Statement. the) policy "-which-. is .rosponsiblb'; for ttio expenditure of-£2f106,951 of'mtistly loan-•money-.-for the twelve months Ending: March 31, 1908, seven of;jwhich had passedat. the ■ time i the Statement aiid estimates--■were-brought doijn,.: MniMassoyj.-it is truo,-, >mnde some protest- against , tho bolatod appearance "of the Statement, to .which'' Premier replied that tlio. system and- not the Government was. to blame.. But that, does, not alter ..the • fact/ .tliat .the system which : allows the annual' -public,,works oxpendituro to go on serenely for the greater part ot .Uio year before Parliament. is. given the opportunity of approving of that expenditure*, is a very bad 0110, -.expenditure is evonl.y distributed. over tlio whole period itmoans thnt this year tho sum of £1,299,000 was ■ spent • before Parliament had an opportunity, of. saying whotber it approved ol the ostimates or .not. ■ Instead of-authorising the. oxpendituro) Parliament is .practically,..loft. 110. option but to:,confirm expenditure'...to., which the country, has boon coiimiittetl.-by -Minis? tors • ,1... ~ Thp-self-reliant -;polj.oy ■ of Atkinson,, and Ballancp has fallen so far into disrepute that'nothing short of a depression, and the sheer' inability to raise loan money will stem the riotous political living of the present day ticians. . But is it ,not time som<j party aroso in Parliament- to protest against tho. policy of mortgaging, the Dominion up. to. tho. peek and leaving posterity to carry the incubus of crushing interest charges? The-future will bring its. own . hoavy 'responsibilities, and the next generation will have to find millions to build Dreadnoughts, and' to buy guns to dofond the Dominion.. If they arc lmnipored and crippled by the fruits of the spendthrift policy of the- Seddon and Ward Administrations they will,.; scarcely rise up and bless those • responsible for it. Hath'or will posterity bracket them with Vogcl and Duncan Gillies, and revile'them as mon who squandered a heritago to promote a shortlived boom in thoir- own little day.—Christ; church "Truth." • ' : ■■';'/■' A DENIAL. -pf.: ' Referring to a Wellington paper's 1 state.-' mont that there was a good prospect of the 'Union' Steamship. Company's . headquarters boiug removed to this city, tho r Dmicdin "Star" cays:—Wo may. say. that our contemporary's surmise is entirely fanciful. Dunedin and Port Chalmers aro likely to remain tho headquarters. of tho Union Company, if 110't for all timo, at least for many a year. Tho company have not entertained the 1 slightest thought of making a move. Even without tho assurance which wo are ablo,to give to-day, tho .idea mooted by tho "Post" must havo seemed very iniprobablo to reflective minds in Dunedin. Only the other day, at tho banquet given by tho oitiwms to Sir James Mills, Mr. J. M. Bitohie, who is a director- of the Union Company, emphasised tho steady determination of tho company, as guided by. Sir James, to mako Dunodin the headquarters of. the, business. Mr. Ritchie's remark was made by way of illustrating Dunedin's. spccial. debt tho .faithful interest shown' by . the' managing director,. tho guest of tho evening; but it would have been a singularly' unhappy and oven pcrverso remark if tho company wero actually intending to relax tho determination and place their central. station at "Wellington. In point of fact, Mr. Ritchie mado no mistake. Tho substantial.; guarantee given by the company in connection with tho new dock at Port Chalmers is another indication of that fixity of, intention, as regards the situation of headquarters, upon which the people of this district havo learned confidently to depend. The long and short of the matter is that tho Wellington rumour is entirely without foundation, and tho inhabitants of Dunedin and Port Chalmers may set their minds at rest. '