WELLINGTON TOPICS

Hokitika Guardian, 14 December 1933, Page 6

WELLINGTON TOPICS

GAMING AMENDMENT,

G OVERNMENT’ g FUTURE,

(Special Correspondent.)

WELLINGTON, December 12. It was in his delightful work “The Horse in History,” published in 1908, just twenty-five years ago, that My , Basil Tozer predicted that within three decades of the issue of his .book the horse would have become so completely dethroned that it would be used only .for racing purposes and for the artificial chase. The prophecy of the daring writer lias not yet been wholly realised, but it still has five yoars to run, and it seems likely that during that period the number of horses for draught, for locomotion, and for agricultural purposes will be- still further , lessened. On the other and, as Mr To- ! zer puts it, the racehorse and hunter —the racehorse in the larger measure—are holding their own and horse-manship-still is regarded among the graces of the elect; It was in a difficult mood, from that assumed by Mr Basil Tozer, in reviewing the future of- the horse, that members of the House of. Representatives last week approached the second;,reading of the Gaming Amendment. Bill, • which had been presented very appropriately by Mr E. F. fiealy, the member for Wairau, and warmly supported by the Prime Minister who had pledged his assistance, to the promotion of the measure. The. Bill had no political significance, Mr Forbes explained to the House after the vote had gone against the measure,' and this of course, was the case, but with twenty-one Labour members and fifteen Coalitionists voting against the

I Bill it looks as if the racing clubs I still have to- make ivay with the revenue that lies at their disposal. The members of the House who opposed the Gaming Bill (i n addition 1 to the Labour members who were practically unanimous) were Messrs Anseil (Chalmers), Atrnore (Nelson), Hawke (Kaiapoi), Kyle (Riccnrton), Lye *(Waikato) , McSkimming (Clutlia), Poison (Stratford), Rushwortli (Bay of. Islands), Samuel (Thames), Stallworthy (Eden), Stewart (Dunedin West), Tirjkatene (Western Maori), Webb ■Buller), and Wright (Wellington Suburbs). Tt is significant that four previous Ministers of the Crown who had sat in the Cabinet and tolerated a Gaming Act in one shape or another are now joining with other members of Parliament in detaching themselves from those superfluous adventures with their own money and with other peoples. It is obvious, apart from the developments of recent occasions, that the country is not ready for any further extension of its gambling predilections.

It was bad enough last week to have the two parties and the Independents quarrelling in the House of Representatives over the Gaming Amendment Bill, a tussle which ended in the triumph of Labour with a baker’s dozen of malcontents. The Prime Minister, out of the goodness of Iris heart, had thrown in his lot with the racing clubs, but the Labourites and the Independents between them managed to tip the scale towards their

side and to leave the ambitions of the racing clubs to await another'

year. Unfortunately the secretary of tile New Zealand Racing Conference, disappointed as be well may have been, approached a member of the

House with a reproach for having

abandoned the racing authorities

The member’s retort was short and effective. The courteous secretary

was levelled to the floor, and in the

next moment he was recognised as the wrong man and solaced by an ade-

quate apology. The real man, so it is

said, was net nvnUablA