THE TOTALISATOR.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1328, 4 January 1912, Page 2

THE TOTALISATOR.

VIEWS OF CLERGYMEN. WHAT THEY SAW AT ELLERSLIE< GAMBLING AMONG THE YOUNG, (By Telegraph—Press Association.) Auckland, January 3. The New South Wales Totalisator Com. missioners continued their sitting in Auckland (his morning, when several im< portanl new witnesses wcro examined, Representatives of the Auckland Ministers' Association, in the Iters. Howard Elliott and D. 1). Scott, camo forward at the request of the commission, and provided some rather startling evidence. The llev. Howard Elliott wa6 the first witness examined. lie and his colleague, he said, had come forward at the desire of the Auckland Ministers' Association, which' was constituted of the ministers; of the Free Churches in Auckland, and represented' 50,000 people. The Chairman: Yon consider , "tote" betting to be gambling?— Yes. And would you call betting on the nowfashionable'game of bridge, say, at lOd, per 100, betting or gambling?—l would call that betting, since the player depends to a certain amount on .Ms own skill.. Do you consider, that the "tote" is an honest machine?— Yes, the machine is honest, but tho morals of racing aro.uot our morals. They justify their.ends, and do things we would not do. ' To come back to the question, does the "loto" encourage betting?—lt does. '• Is not its silence: an advantage ?—Admittedly, it doos not call the odds or solicit betting, bnt (here are peoplo who bet with the "tote" who would never bet with a bookmaker. An employee may go and bet at tho machine without arousing the same feeling of mistrust on the part of his employer. . Why?— Because his bets arc made on a different plane. Betting with the bookmaker does not .end on the course. With the "tote," lie cannot bet "on the nod." The "tote" lends ah appearanco of. respectability and safety. The Chairman: Does tho totalisator not lead to better.prize-money being offered by clubs, and consequent better breeding? ■ ,';

Witness: On thb evidence of Mr. Mason, a New Zealand trainer, the average priz« money in New South' Wales' is far greater than the, average prize money - in Sew Zealand, yet New, Zealand horses from thetime of Carbine have attained the highest success iu Australia, proving that bigger prize money does not produce better horseflesh. '■'. ; Touting for the Tote. The Chairman: Doe? the operation ofthe lote not liavo a restrictive iullueneo on betting? ' , Witness: That brings me to something that I-want lo say. Inspector Cullcn lias informed you that thero is no touting for tote betting. Wo know that there-is, and that it goes on to a very great'extent. Touts go round the factories and workshops, and gather sixpences and shillings from boys and girls earning only 10s. oy 15s. per week. Theso boys and girls are not allowed by their parents to go to the races, and so readily support the. tote tout. This kind of thing goes on extensively and constitutes a grave danger in educating young people into gambling habits. The bookmakers'touts cannot now do this openly under Hie existing law, bill the tote tout can. The Chairman: Tho tout, _I presume then, acts on commission, as it were, and goes'to the "course to invest tho money?— Just so. • Has tho nlloutjon of the' police nop been called to this by your association?— The police must be conversant with what is going on, but Inspector Cullcn saya there is no lotc touting. is he not a reputable, officer?— Ijnquestionablv he is, but tote touting is not a statutory offence, and cases of the i kind do not'coMe'within the police'purview. ~ Mr.. Bruntncll, M.L.A.: Do you thiufc the apparent respectability of the tote an inducement to bet in. the case of people who would never bet with, tho: bookmaker, ?—Yes. :••.., '" And the gambling spirit is widespread? —It is,, indeed.'. So widespread, m fact, that employers who recently discussed'the hold gambling had got on the public declared that in many instances the employnient of women was preferable to,tha, employment of men, because the minds of the latter wore not occupied with racing. Tho tradesmen also suffer a great deal in the same way. ~-.•.,

In Case of a Referendum. TLon. Mr. Wilson: You represent 50,009., peoplo in this city?— Yes. ; ' i And the city's population is, whalf— , About 110,000. , ~. ~ . So that, if I he abolition of the totalizator, as, well as the bookmaker, -was put to a referendum of Auckland people, both, would possibly go?— 1 am sure, of it. As it is, of the Iwo you prefer the to- . lalisator?-Yes, but.l am between the > devil and the deep blue sea. ■. I. give you ( mv answer rather than l'eiiceithe question, but 1 want both abolished.: In conclusion, the Rev. Howard Elliott • said that as llie result of yesterday's . observations-at Ellorslic he was satisfied :■ that, of those, belting at. the totalisator, . from 25 to 3!i per cent were under 25 . years of age. lto and the Rev. Mr. Seolt . had made a compulation at the pnyiugout windows, and the.above figured were the result.

Failed to Reduce Gambling, . : The llev. 1). D. Scott believed'that, in'"' New Zealand, public'feeling was very .'. much adverse to the totalisalor, and veil- ~ hired the opinion that if a referendum ■ was taken (he machine would be wiped out of existence. The' Presbyterian Church, to which lie was attached, was solidly against; the totalisator, and this ', he considered was a significant fact when ' it was remembered' that the adult, initio , membership exceeded the female member- .: ship bv 10,000. The amount of the investments'through the totalisator showed '. clearlv (hat the machiuo had utterly . failed' lo reduce gambling, but had en- ' couraged it. Mr. K. A. Aimstroiig asserted that the ; volume of betting had not been affected by legislation, mid declared that the , bookmaker was even now operating aa merrily as ever. A Defender of tho Totalisator. Jlr. C. LY Major, formerly M.P. for Hawera, and a horseowner, expressed tho '. opinion that n was better in the interests of horseracing to keep bookmakers off tho course and to give them no legal , stains to bet. The unscrupulous tacticsof some bookmakers tended to degrade and , demoralise tho snort, while totalisator bet- / ing possessed the fairest principle pos- [ siulft and minimised betting to a re- ; niarkable degree. It would not be possible to get: a reputable body of book- . makers, fo long as they had to compete , against the totalisator." Henry Edward Fcnwick, an ex-book-mnker, declared that credit betting with. . the totalisator was a fact and well known to many. The Commission concludes its sitting is Auckland to-morrow.