THE LAW BROKEN.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLIX, Issue 3771, 24 March 1928, Page 3

THE LAW BROKEN.

A EUCHRE TOURNEY.

“COMMON GAMING HOUSE.”

Wellington, March 22,

In view of the public interest which has been aroused by the recent Supreme Court decision in Christchurch regarding a euchre tourney, the following statement is made by the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, the Hon. F. J. Rolleston: —

The facts on which the recent decision was based were that the party prosecuted had invited the public by advertisement to attend at certain premises known as the Sydenham Football Hall for the purpose of playing progressive euchre. The charge of 2/6 was made for admission and cash prizes up to £lO were offered to winners of the tournament. The tournament was run purely for the purpose of private gain. On these facts the Court, following decisions on exactly the same law which is in force in England, held that the premises were what is called in law common gaming houses in breach of the provision of the Gaining Act.

Essential points in this case .were that an admission fee was charged for entries in the euchre tournament for the purpose of winning the prize and that prizes of value, that is, money, were offered to winners of the tournament. ' “I have received many letters on this subject from different parts of the country, some of them evidently written on the assumption that the game of euchre has been declared an unlawful game,” states Mr. Rolleston. “This is not so. A game becomes unlawful only if played in such circumstances as to constitute the premises where it is played a common gaming house. In the prosecutions which have recently come before the Courts five out of six were cases in which the tournaments were being conducted as a matter of business by private individuals purely for the purpose of private gain and these differed in no way from those of the ‘roll down’ or other similar prosecutions.”