THE ANTI-GAMBLING MOVEMENT.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 846, 18 June 1910, Page 10

THE ANTI-GAMBLING MOVEMENT.

Si'--,—l never read tho Rev. J. J. North's letters to tho press without thinking of a few lines I used to read in one of ray school books many years ago: "Because half .a dozen grasshoppers under a fern make the meadow ring with their importunate chink, while thousands of great cattle reposo beneath the shadow of tho oak, chew tho cud and are silent, pray do not imagine that those who make tho noise are the only inhabitants of the field, or. that they are other but the little shrivelled, meagre, hopping, though loud and troublesome insects of the hour." These lines occurred to me again when I saw" the rov. gentleman in print with his wild statements about the totalisator and-the bookmakers. There is a remark of his in Saturday's letter that I would lifco to draw attention to. Ho hints, presumably in ignorance, that South Australia is the only State in the Commonwealth that has the totalisator. It is well known, however, that the machine is in vogue in both West Australia and-Queens-land. No doubt- many of his other statements arc wide of the mark also. There is one point on -which I must congratulate the Eev. North, and that is in sek'ctiug .the bookmaker for his opponent iii a newspaper controversy, for the bookmaker is in general a poorly-educated individual, and .should he care to reply, the Kev. North, an admitted scholar, can rely on easy victory. Personally, 1 am not anxious for an encounter with-Mr. North, and perhaps ho may not caro to notico an anonymous correspondent. One thing, however, he can rest assured of, and that,is that people cannot lie made good by Act of Parliament; you must always get back to religion as tho basis. Therefore, a clergyman, is always bettor employed in devoting his whole time to the spiritual' -wants of his parishioners rather tlian in interfering with the private business of others. Even supposing for a moment that people of his persuasion were in the majority, New Zealand is not a Republic where they can suppress the minority. ,In New Zealand, the learned anti-gamblers may be the instructors, but they cannot be the ruler's. As this letter has already run to great length I will conclude by asking tho .Rev. Mr. North to inform his readers when next lie "writes how , many people tlio siitigamblers find employment for in comparison to those the racing clubs employ, and how much money do the anti-gamblers spend, in the city shops in comparison to that spent by the sporting fraternity, bookmakers included.—-I am, etc., SECOND DIVIDEND.