The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. GISBORNE, OOT. 26, 1906.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXIII, Issue 1915, 26 October 1906, Page 2

The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. GISBORNE, OOT. 26, 1906.

4 T last tho Government has made up its mind to deal with the gambling question, and has introduced a Bill into Parliament with that view. There can hardly be an idea in the mind of the Prouder to pass the Bill this ses' sion, for wo are now within a very few days of the hour of prorogation, aud there is still a very bulky Order Paper to get through, so that in tabling the measure Sir Joseph Ward could have no other intontion than to have the Bill discussod by the country in order that public opinion may be gauged and an acceptable measure constructed in its passage through the House. Iho measure is apparently a c mprehensivo one, of which wo must j dge according to tho lengthy synops. of it which our special Parliamenta: y correspondent supplied us with yt 3terday, and a perusal of it impels m to congratulate the Premier on h< ving introduced it, even though he not intend to forco it through

boforo next session. Tho Bill is, on

tho whole, ft good one, though I horn nro in it minor provisions which may ha reasonably objected to ; but theso will, no doubt, be roctifiod in its progress through committoo. One of the main objections to tho Bill in its present form is that whilo it laudably | aims lit preventing tlio getting up of ( swoops and rotuiuing tho enormous , amount of money in this colony that i ftiinually finds its way to Tasmania, i r i does not appear to go far enough to 1 make that prevention cffoctivo. Whilo it provides sovoro penalties for those who are caugnt canvassing for those swoops or receiving money for lottery tickots, thoro is no provision discoverable in tho Bill to prevent anyone posting money to Tasmania as is done at present, and for which purpose tho post ollico is largely used. Until such a provision is inserted in the Bill the leakage will still go on and the Tasmanian Treasurer will still continue to look to this colony for the moans to preserve the solvency of that. .State. Sir Joseph is naturally unwilling to iuterloro with tho working of tho post and telegraph offices in the direction of destroying tho secrecy that is supposed to exist in connection with the business that passes through thoso offices, and it would not bo wise to do ho ; but there are ways in which the transmission of money through those oflices for an illegal purpose could be stopped without iu uuv way infringing I on Lire privacy of legitimate business, ij and the Bill ought certainly to attompt i. .. .1.. 11, i. f .. ill 1 L J tYI A\7

to do that, for if it does not it may as well remain off the Statute Book for all the good it will do in that directiou. Ample provision appoars to have been made for tho suppression of gaming houses and street betting ; but uuless tho definition of the words ,l gaming house” and “street” are clear and include every shed, barn, shanty, tent, paddock, and mountain top (which is not probable), there will be placss found for betting and eluding the provisions of tho law. One of tho weaknesses of the Bill is that it does not specifically recognise the fact that there are sc many people who live by betting alone, and as the Bill makes their calling illegal there is no reason why it should not make it illegal for a person to remain at large uuless he can show that he lives by lawful means If the Bill did that and thrust the onus of proof upon those harpies, sharpers, and racecourse swindlers to show that they lived by lawful means it would go a long way towards making its other provisions unnecessary. The professional gambler who travels from racecourse to racecourse touting for bets or inducing people by a kind of confidence trick to bet on horses which those rascals know cannot win should be compelled to earn an honest living or be deprived of the OPP®*'* tunity to prey upon others. Tho Bill apparently treats those fellows as it treats honest men who may make a wager on a holiday by way of varying the ordinary routine of life ; but if the objectionable class to which we refer were restricted to other means of making a living more than one-half of the betting that now goes on would cease. As the Bill makes canvassing for sweep subscribers punishable by a fine of £2OO for a first offence, why not make canvassing for bets by book* makers punishable also ? We know it goes on all in the larger towns to an alarming extent, and is a more serious danger than the sweep business has ever been. Racing clubs all over the colonv for years have been doing everything in their power to get rid of those gentry; they have spent hundreds of pounds in the law courts to keep the turf clear of them and so make the sport of racing cleaner than it could possibly be made when they are present; but the club 3 are powerless to suppress them; nor does this Bill give tho clubs much assistance. Surely Sir Joseph Ward is not afraid to lose the votes of those parasites, though they are numerous and have many sympathisers. If he is not, ho will add such provisions to the Bill as will rid the country of thorn and make sport of all classes the purer for their absence.