DRASTIC MEASURES.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1051, 14 February 1911, Page 4

DRASTIC MEASURES.

The Postal Department lias teen given powers under <thc'. Post and Telegraph - Act of 1808 which are .worth a little attention at the';present moment. -We rofcr to the right which it possesses to open and destroy postal ! ]packcts and communications of various kinds,'arid to prevent' the Post Offico boing used as a means of communication Vith given individuals or firms. Thio public no (loujit has at different'times 'noted the published intimation; that letters will not be forwarded to cer* tain addresses. For instance, it is generally known that letters addressed to the promoters'of Tattersalls weeps will not bo forwarded by tho postal authorities. Then again there arc quite a number of firms or individuals suspected of trading on tho .credulity of- tho public in the Way of "cures" of various kinds who. are placed on tho list and find the Post Ofjice cloEcd to them as a meaua of receiving communications from their victims. We liavo no doubt that in most 'eases'the : public are protected-from the fraud of unscrupulous oharlatans by the action of the postal authorities in thus, refusing to transmit letters and postal packets. There is probably an dement of danger of serious' injury being donri'in'individual cases unless the greatest caro is exercised in deciding when action'.shall •be taken. Any of our readers can picture for himself the' predicament lie would be placed-in:.were he to find hiroscU cut' off from all postal communications'' from " friends or business people. His plight would bft desperate indeed. It is not our ■ purposo to deal with this aspect of tho question, however, on . the. present occasion,, and we,merely mention it. with the object of directing attention to tho powerful weapon •which the-postal authorities possess and'which. itiay bo turned against certain' forms 'of'*unlawful business dealing. Tho. particular form -of unlawful occupation which vfc have specially in mind at the moment is tho profession l ' of •■bookinaking. Everyone knows, that under the Gaming Act of last session the bookmaker ..was-, to cease Mb rbusiness: in Now Zealand from tho beginning of tho present month. Most people who know anything about tho matter at all know that a great deal of wagering with bookmakers is still carried on and is-likely to b'o 'continued unless drastic measures : are".' taken. What we hope is tho first step in this direction is to be noted in 1 the current number of tho Government Gazette. The announcement is there maclo that: : i v ■. (

Tho Postmaster-General of the Dominion of Now Zealand havarigr reasnnablo ground for supposing that tho person whbso namo and 'address aro shown in the Schedule, hereunder is engaged iii icoeivirig money as the pmisideration for an assurance or agreement implied. to.pfl'y money on events relating to horw'raees, it,is hereby orderid. under Section !Kn' of the P6st and Telegraph Act, 100S, that no monoy-order in favour of .-the. said person shall be issued;'and tliit no pMtnl packet ed to the Mid person'(either by his own

or any .fictitious or assumed name), shall !k> either registered, forwarded, or- delivered by the Post Oflico of New Zealand. . •

The person whoso name appears in the ''Schedule referred to is .''J. StELtix, Commission Agent.'' Stellin was a bookmaker and the postal authorities, .by the action taken, ha : ve prevented anyone, communicating with him by post for the purpose of wagering. It is to be assumed that there is some reason for this extreme step, and if Mr. Stellin has been carrying on business by post, that' business will quickly cease. It is a little curious, however, that where proceedings are taken against bookmakers it is nearly' always the smaller men who appear to come under the eyes of the authorities. Whether the bigger men are more astute in carrying on their business and cover their tracks batter than their smaller brethren we do not profess to know. : Certain it is, that many of them are credited with being extremely fortunate to escape attention. Now that the postal authorities have made a beginning, however, we trust that , the flimsy devices practised in the past by certain bookmakers will not be'permitted to blind those in authority to what is going on, and that the dras-. tic measures adopted in the case of J. Stellin will be applied also to others of the same : fraternity who fiome under suspicion. The police may find it difficult to . detect thebookmakers at work-in the towns; 'jut the postal authorities should,be able to put an end to: the betting by post which has been going on for so long and with which they should be perfectly familiar.' .