NOTES OF THE DAY.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1491, 13 July 1912, Page 4

NOTES OF THE DAY.

.The new Minister for Justico would do well to turn up in the official records tho report of tli3 Gaolers' Conference on tho Prison Reform Bystcm. We directed atten tion to this' matter a week or two back, but the then Minister for Justice;,the Hon. J. Hanan,; apparently was not in sympathy with our suggestion that the report should , . b;< made public. .The fact of the mat ter'is, wo believe, that the whus Prison Reform Scheme; concerning which so much sloppy nonsense has been talked, has proved a ghastly failure and the report,of the gaolcra no doubt throws some light on th\ position which the late Governmeit thought it inadvisable to make public. Mr ; Herdman, when' he comes to'look into the; question of Prison Roform, will probably find the recommendations" of the gaolers—wh j, it will be recalled met here in conference a month or two ago—of co'nsiderablo value to him in instituting the changes (which are bo urgent!/ called for.,. So far as we can learn there is '■ nothing' in the report that should not be publishedj and if ths views of those in charge of the prisons of tho country and in daily, touch with the prisoners were made known to the general public.it would perhaps have a good effect.iri Hardening up public opinion as to the necessity for changed methods,.

The report of the South' Wales Totalisator Commission, which visited New Zealand a littjo time backf, fails to throw any new light on the subject i of betting on horseracing. A majority of tho Commission appear to hold the view that the totalisator, compared with ilvbookmaker, is liable to increase the amount of betting which'takes plac Q This opinion, so far' as New Zealand is concerned, is quite absurd and must bo based on an erroneous understanding of the pbsition. Wiwi the bookmaker legalised it was well nigh impossible to suppress or even materially restrict betting away from the racecourses. In every city and in almost every township in the Dominion bookmakers were to be found who not only .carried on their business oil the courses,, but also operated in the towns laying the.odds on rac:s held in other parts' of the country. Thus it was nob necessary for \\\u public to atterid race meetings in order to bet on the races. It was miich more difficult for the police to stamp out this illegal betting whib the bookmaker held a legal .status and was able to build up a connection -legitimately on the racecourses, • than it is to-day with bookmaking treated as an oftenco wherever carried on. At the present time, rand by means of the totalisator, legd betting is confined to the racecourses The bookmaker, having no legal status, now finds his existence a precarious one if ho attempts' to carry on business at. all. "It is true that he still eurvives, though in greatly reduced numbers, and (that he continues to be patronised in defiance of tho law. But with an active police force he runs a daily risk of fine or imprisonment, and the volume of business transacted! in this way must have been enormously reduced since bookmaking was made illegal. It is impossible to stamp out the evil altogether,_ but the totalisator, confided as it is to the racecourses, minimises it. The New South Wales Commissioners recognise the.merits of tho machine; and also pay a deserved compliment t the high standard set by our racing clubs in the matter of courso equipment and conveniences for "the sporting public. :

Ed up._ It iB true that tho Resident Commissioner has been removed, bir 1 so far as we have been able to learn the arrangement since made has beea only of a temporary nature. Dit. Dawson. ex-Chief Medical Officer at the Cook Group, was made to suffer a very grave injustice as the result of the farcical inquiry conducted by the Chief Justice, Sir Robert Stout, and of subsequent happenings, and it is the duty of the Reform Government to see that the matter is put right. If Dk. Dawson's services could again be secured for the Islands it would bo a very good thing and would give very general satisfaction there.