BETTING IN ENGLAND.

Hokitika Guardian, 13 October 1923, Page 1

BETTING IN ENGLAND.

[hv TKXKG It A l'jl — l* Kit l*n ESS ASSOCIATION.] WELLINGTON, Oct. 12, Mr A. it- Atkinson, formerly a Wellington member o! Parliament, and Nov Zealand cunespondoiit of ‘'The Times’ aml a well-known advocate uf liquor prohibition, who has returned fioni a vi-it to England. bad a few winds to say to a reporter on the subject of

gambling. •‘The social phenomenon that most deeply impressed me in England win ihe development of the betting mania. 1,0 said. “Once a luxury of the well-tn-do. it now seems almo-t to have become one of the necessaries el the pinr. and bulb morally and economically it- threatens disaster to the nation unless some very drastic antidote i. applied. Two sentences from a statement made by Sir Robert Kimlerslcy. a director of the Bank of England, and the founder of D'e National Savings movement, will suffice to make both the.-e points good. 'Nothing in our opinion interferes so much with tho efficiency of the great nm-s oi people as the present betting disease, which is spreading like a cancer throughout cverv class uf the community. Evidence is not wanting that belting is responsible for at least as much, it not more, misery in the homes <u the country than is drinking!’ “The space given to horse racing in the popular Press suggests that it is f.,r the most important of the national industries." Mr Atkinson went on to say. "Pacing news and tips tor tile next event, are the must, loudly advertised features of the evening impels, ani.l most of thorn make much <>! pu< - dock wires from their special tipsters. There is also an immense host ol publications which live on tips and nothing else. In the Caledonian Rond L counted nine contents bills outside a newspaper shop. One of them was monopolised hv tho taxicab murder and seven bv betting tips. Even a Conservative Government, will have to do something to prevent this hideous cancer from gettine a fatal hold.”