THE GAMING BILL.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 983, 25 November 1910, Page 7

THE GAMING BILL.

'.' CONFERENCE OF LEGISLATORS. -POSITION EXPLAINED., BY DR. - findlays ■' ■ ' The. report.'of the managers of , the House of, Representatives and; tlio Legis-* lativi) Council' who- mot' in 'fconfererico' iii regard to . the : amendments niftdo by,. the Council'jri-'•'the''Gaming ; Bill, -' which, amendments wore objected to by tlio House, . was. presented last evening. In explaining tho amendments, the Attorney-General said the * purpose, the Council had in tho alterations -ina.de.- 'in the Bill which reached ithem from another place, was to increase the stringency of tlio provisions with regard to. bookmakers and with regard to the' prohibition against bookmakers; betting' in. streets, public' places, or racecourses. Tho. definition- of the word "street"-was, inter alia, 'declared'to iaean\ahy;- building.' or' ra'cccourso' upon:; which a 'xace° meeting, was ilbt being held. .That definition of -str-eef was th?-,lixw;i.already ;and : was borrowed by Nc\vj Zealand from the provisions of the New 1 "Act.' It was not introduced :by us. hero for tho'i first time,:and it whs not a-trick. It .was merely-a. repetition of tho law which had been in 'force in, New Zealand for some.years. The , words to' which', ho-had referred were .necessary for the purpose of preventing betting by .persons other than bookmakers from- being punished as •an oiTence. : The. Bill as it loft tho Council provided in nn earlier'clause" an in-' dependent -sub-clrtuso that a bookmaker making a bet upon a racecourse wascommitting 1 an offence. ! -TUe definition of - tll«; word'vstreet" follow'c'd Sub-clause - 3, in 'wliich there was a prbvision that, no boo.kmaker shall niake a.-bot on a racecourse. In Siib T clause 3 of Clause 2, after tho. word raceeourM, 1 the words "whether'.a race meeting 'is' being- held tliereon. libt,?.chad''be6d'inserthm This would' obviate blunders even oii tlie part' of 'a layman, and \vould 1 increase, tlio. stringency' of- the clause. .''An' alteration had. also, been mado. by .the Committee . of;. Managers, 'in-, the clause giving preference' to tile 'smaller 'race clubs. "As a compromise tlioy ' had agreed that in?, stead of "saying the commission shall give preference, the ,clause bb ■'altered to provido that, tho-commission shall give consideration to tho -claims of. the smaller club's. The legal.'eifcc-t was. nothing, but .it;'might, be takeiL'iby tho commissioners 'is,a statutory hint that. Parliament, desired the claims of tho smaller clubs to ,b9'.'considered.' In . Clause 4'. tlio Bill wh6ii. it left, the Council provided that' any -person who .offended, against Clause 2. (street betting). on. any' racecourse could : be-put off. "It was urged that "any person ,was too' Wide, and it was changed to bookmaker. This did'not affect 'the' moaning of the clause, and the managers' of the Council did not- object to tho alteration. 'All tho other' amendments that"'the Council, proposed were agreed to by tho managers from the Iloiise of' Representatives; - He moved 'that the report be agreed to. The Hon. J. 13. Jenkinson (Wellington): I suppose we may take it'that it is illegal for a bookmaker to go on a course to inake bets? :V Dr'. Findlay: That is so;. Of course,,ho added, replying -to a remark mado- by Jlr. Jenkinson as to-criticisms suggesting trickel'y, the'criticism overlooked tho fact that in tho earlier part of tho Bill I .there was an. entirely independent provision that' bookmakers<' could -not make a bet iu any public street, public, place,or Tacecourse. Tho subsequent provisions' in which the'words occlirred were found necessary by" the original draughts-/ man to avoid punishing a private lndi- | vidiial for betting, but there-was no' doubt, and thero had been no doubt, that [ tho law .could'punish bookmakers in this way.,;', s ' The report'-was agreed to.