The Feilding Star. TUESDAY,MAY 6,1884. Gambling

Feilding Star, Volume V, Issue 53, 6 May 1884, Page 2

The Feilding Star. TUESDAY,MAY 6,1884. Gambling

♦ It is always a pleasure to chronicle the efforts made by the servants of the Government towards carrying out a code of morality as established by Act of Parliament. But oar happiness is somewhat alloyed when we find that such effurta are, as a rule, intermittent, and very partial. We are informed, on an average of once a month, that the police have made a raid on certain Chinese gambling houses, arrested a lot of the gamblers, and secured their conviction with severe fines inflicted by an intelligent and upright magistrate on the wicked lawbreakers. But, because Chinamen only are the gamblers whom the police are able to discover and punish, it does not at all follow that no other class of persons give way to this passion in the Colony. The number of sweeps, and the liberal support accorded them, speaks in volumes to the contrary, and though all sweeps or consultations are contrary to law, their operations are conducted in the most open faced manner, and the police have never been able to secure a conviction against any of the larger and most notorious promoters. We must remark, in this connection, that the strictly honorable manner in which they have been carried out has carried public opinion with them, and while they hold this, it cannot be expected that the police could do much to put them down. Examination of the advertisements of sweeps, under whatever designation, which now appear in all the newspapers published in the Colony will show that they amount to nearly £100,000, and it is not too much to say that £75,000 of this will be subscribed. In round numbers, the annual amount passed through the hands of the promoters is not less than £500,000, and for the totalizator another £500,000 is not too great an estimate. That is to say, for two kinds of gambling only, one million pounds sterling of capital is required and employed in this commercially depressed Colony. There are bookmakers, the metallicians, of whom there cannot be less than a hundred professionally engaged on the various race courses of New Zealand — these men, " who are clothed in fine linen aad fare sumptuously every day" — who are gorgeous in their habiliments, and resplendent with much jewellery, every article of which is of the best quality, and their diamonds of the first water. Their capital is an " unknown quantity " it is true, but not one of them can live on less than a thousand a year, and then only by the exercise of great economy, for be it remembered they are not winebibbers, inasmuch as their stock in trade is an unclouded brain, which no drinker can always possess. A bookmaker who drinks in the scorn of the profession, and he is soon crushed out of the ring. In addition then to the million already mentioned, another hundred thousand pounds has to be found by an impoverished country to keep these gentlemen. It is a remarkable coincidence that the amount of money lost by traders through bankruptcies last year is nearly equal to this sum. Whether there is any connection between them we cannot say, but it would appear if there were less gambling there would be fewer bankruptcies. We suspect that John Chinaman has but a very small hand in these games. Now the moral of all this is : the people have discovered that £400,000 a year is the maximum sum they can afford to pay for education, and where so much money is absolutely required for gambling we do not see how any more can be spared. We do not expect the Government will attempt anything this session at least to mend matters, and we question very much whether they could do any good. The change must be made by the people themselves. A healthy public opinion against gambling in all its forms is the one thing needed. Until that has been formed the evil wity continue to flourish.