ESTABLISHED 1866. The Marlborough Express PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 1913. THE POST OFFICE AND THE BOOKMAKERS.

Marlborough Express, Volume XLVII, Issue 34, 8 February 1913, Page 4

ESTABLISHED 1866. The Marlborough Express PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 1913. THE POST OFFICE AND THE BOOKMAKERS.

The sympathy which, it became quite notorious, more than one member oft the Ward Ministry had with the bookmaking fraternity was no doubt no inconsiderable factor in the defeat of that Government at the last elections. The great majority or New Zealanders view with the most profound alarm the increase in the taste for gambling which is only too salient a characteristic of our young men, and although Mr Millar and Sir James Carroll were perfectly frank and honest in their defence of the bookmaker, basing that defence on the grounds of "personal liberty," the House was strongly against the then Ministers. Unfortunately for Sir Joseph Ward, and the Government as a whole, an impression got abroad that in some mysterious way the book- \ makers were not prosecuted with the j diligence with which they might have been, and the insinuation was made that they had powerful "friends at court" who in some way or other shielded and aided them. We may say at once that we never held this yieV, which was indeed a gross injustice to the two ex-Ministers mentioned above. But there were a great many people in December, 1911, who voted against the then Government simply because they believed, or had been led to believe, that the Government was the friend of the bookmakers. It was very absurd and very unfair to the Government; but there it was. But what is happening to-day under the "Reform" Government? Are the bookmakers, who, so it is notorious, are carrying on business quite openly every' day in Wellington, Auckland, and other large centres, being prosecuted to any extent commensurate with the widespread and impudently open character of their traffic ?Is the Police Department making any really sustained effort to stamp out these parasites on the community, these enemies to the youth of the country ? Now and again, at long intervals, one may read of a prosecution for betting in a public place; but for one offender who is detected and brought before the courts, there are simply hundreds who go scot free, and who, in the leading thoroughfares of our big cities, cany on their illegal business with an effrontery which has long been positively a public scandal. Worse than this, the Post- Office is being used by these fellows in the most systematic way for carrying on' betting, and especially betting with young men, the very class which it is most desirable should not become addicted to the gambling evil. It was understood that the Post Office authorities would not allow betting circulars to be sent through the mails;, but apparently the Post Office, under the "Reform" Government, is becoming more than ever the bookmaker s agent, aider and abettor. Evidence as to this comes from the Christchurch Press, which states point-blank; and in its editorial columns:—"We regret to say that we have evidence before us showing that the Postmaster-General is aiding and abetting the bookmakers in offering incitements to young men to gamble on horse-racing, irrespective of the totalisator." This is a somewhat astonishing statement to come from a journal like the Press, which is a warm supporter of the present Administration. But the Press not only makes this statement, but supports it by clear and irrefutable evidence. Our contemporary goes on to say that it has before it "bookmakers' cards offering odds up to as much as 1000 tol dii various racing 'doubles.' These cards were posted in unsealed envelopes and addressed to youths in city offices who, we are assured, are under twenty-one years of age." As if this were not bad enough, it appeaTs from what- Our Christchurch contemporary says that the P<>st Office has been a knowing and quite willing accomplice in this detestable business of inciting young New Zealanders to gamble. For not only were the envelopes unsealed, but they were "accepted in bulk and stamped by the Post Office, and bear a notification that if they are unclaimed they are to be returned to a certain box at the Post Office. It appears, therefore," continues the Press, "that the Post Office is facilitating the bookmakers' operations by giving them a private box, conveying their" betting cards through the mails, and accepting those documents and stamping them in bulk to further lighten the labor of the senders."

All we can.say is that if all this be still within and permitted by the law, then the law should be amended. The Press goes so far as to advocate the prohibition of all correspondence to and from bookmakers through the mails. This may -seem a very drastic provision and the old cry of interference with the liberty of'the subject may be raised. But severe evils deserve and demand drastic remediesand if the Post Office will not, or cannot, stop the circulation of betting circulars through the mails, then the only way to get at the evil would be to go to the extreme of preventing any known bookmaker from using the mails at all. The State need have no compunction in dealing with these gentry. They are merely parasites; men who toil not, neither do they spin; men who loaf about the streets and hotel bars of the cities and~ with their "touts" make themselves an intolerable nuisance to the travelling public iising the hotels. It would be interesting to know whether the Post Office has any definite policy or any proper regulations with regard to bookmakers' correspondence. Only a few weeks ago a notorious firm of bookmakers in Wellington were gazetted as persons to whom the Post Office would not deliver correspondence. But, curiously enough, the embargo was raised within a fortnight or so, and we presume the firm is now using the mails as before.

To insinuate that a gentleman like the Hon. Mr Rhodes personally favors and approves the curious tolerance of the bookmakers by the Department of which he has chnrgo would'be absurd; hut he is at least the riomirnl responsible head, and the rmblw will look to him to take imr'^dioto stn^s to were nt the continue Tire of siieh a scandalous state of -^".'^ nX tv^ y,-!-,;^ is reported in the OnVehnrph jonvnal. Wo quite asrpp with the Vvo^. that no m-ivcte ho- rhonld he r.dotted to a bookmaker, a^d every rjostrms^er

should have power to stop letters suspected to contain incitements to betting, forwarding them to Wellington to be opened and examined at headquarters and their delivery stopped if the suspicion is proven to' be correct. We would go further than this. For years this journal has contended that no telegram referring directly or indirectly to a betting transaction should be accepted and forwarded. Bar the bookmaker from the use of the telegraph wires, and you strike a deadly blow at outside "tote" betting. Neither the telegraph wires nor the mails should be allowed to assist the continuance of this detestable gambling which is ruining every year hundreds of our young men, and which is by far the greatest curse from which the country suffers. It is intolerable that the State should lend its aid to these worthless rascals who fatten upon the follies and vices of their fel-low-men ; and we warn Mr Massey that unless lie and his fellow-Ministers set to work in earnest to try to stamp out this betting nuisance the people will rapidly begin to think that the title of "Reform party" is merely an empty catchword. The Police Department should wake up and show more industry and smartness in prosecuting the hordes of men who daily defy and break the law in the streets and hotel bans of the four cities, and the officials of the Post and Telegraph Department should be made to understand that revenue is not everything, and that it is high time the use of the mails by_ the bookmakers should be regulated in such a way as will effectually prevent the repetition of such a scandal as that unearthed by the Christchurch Press.