The Manawatu Standard. (PUBLISHED DAILY.) The Oldest Daily Newspaper on the West Coast. TUESDAY. SEPTEMBER 1, 1885. THE NEW GAMING AND LOTTERY LAW.

Manawatu Standard, Volume X, Issue 1443, 1 September 1885, Page 2

Manawatu Standard. (PUBLISHED DAILY.) The Oldest Daily Newspaper on the West Coast. TUESDAY. SEPTEMBER 1, 1885. THE NEW GAMING AND LOTTERY LAW.

The provisions of the Act bearing the above title are exceedingly stringent. It will be remembered that the Amended Act has been finally adopted by both Houses, and will come into force on the Ist of November next, so that only two months now remain in which to carry out " consultations, 11 &c. We presume the Legislature considerately extended the period of coming into force of the new Act in order to allow of consultations taking place on the Melbourne Cup, popularly considered to be the most important sporting event of the year in these colonies. Our readers will naturally be desirous of learning what the provisions of tho new Bill are, so as to avoid rendering themselves liable for a breach of any of its regulations. The Bill was introduced by Mr Hobbs, and its object undoubtedly is to render turf gambling in every shape and form illegal, entailing heavy money peni allies and also imprisonment with or without hard labor on those infringing any of the numerous and very stringent clauses: of the new measure. The keeper of a betting house, as well as persons using the same, shall be liable on conviction j to a penalty of not more than £50 for each offence, or, in the discretion of the magistrates before whom they shall be convicted they may be imprisoned for any term not exceeding two months, with or without hard labor. The same penalty is made applicable to persons convicted of exhibiting or publishing, or causing to be done so, any placard, handbill, or advertisement announcing that a house is open in any specified place, for the purpose of making wageis or bets on any horse or other race, fight, game, sport, or exercise: also for taking part in a sweepstake, lottery for prizes, &c, also for inviting other persons to visit the said house or room, also for the publication or exhibition of any letter, circular, telegram, placard, handbill, card, or advertisement, offering to give advice or information with respect to bets or wagers, or inducing persons to apply, or in any way taking part in connection with any bet or wager, sweepstake, lottery, &c. The Act also gives the PostmasterGeneral power to officially announce in the Gaactte, that letters, packets, newspapers, or parcels addressed to persons whom he has reasonable grounds to suppose are engaged in receiving money in connection with sweepstakes, consultations, or lotteries, shall not be either registered or delivered to any such person. This order will remain in operation until cancelled by the Postmaster- General. All such letters or packets shall be dealt with by the Dead Letter Office and in course of time returned to the senders. In such cases money orders will not be issued, and those that may have been issued elsewhere will not be paid. Persons buying a ticket in any sweepstake, consultation, or lottery are liable on conviction to a penalty not exceeding ten pounds. Lotteries sanctioned under the authority of the Act, or by the special permission of the Colonial Secretary are exempt from the operation of the Act, as also are sweepstakes got up on a racecourse, provided that the total amount does not exceed X J S, that ..the several contributions thereto do riot exceed 5s each, and that the whole sum contributed goes to the winner without any deduction on any account. Our readers will thus see what serious risks they run in taking part, directly or indirectly, in any sweepstake, consultation or | lottery, after the new Act comes into operation. Tho object Mr Hobbs had in view, in framinsr the Act, we must assume was to repress the spirit of turf gambling which of late has assumed such magnitude in this colony.. A similar Act is in operation in Victoria, and is, we learn, rigidly enforced there. If Mr. Hobbs or the Legislature fancy th£t; they will repress gambling by i Act of Parliament, we fancy they are mistaken in their anticipations. The fact has been demonstrated before now that many well-meant and philanthropic attempts to render people sober and moral by Act of Parliament have not been attended with any great amount of practical success in the desired direction. The turf is a very popular amusement in this colony, and a large section in every community are more or less devoted either to the sport itself, as a sport, or to the many speculative risks with the object of profitable investing money with which it is usually attended. Not a newspaper that one takes up but contains a number of these consultation advertisements, indicating the tendency of the great bulk of the people to patronise such ventures. Thousands of people in th'. 1 Colony have been accustomed year after- year to invest their shillings or pounds, according to tl}eir means, in the pur-

chase of tickets in consultations on the various great turf events periodi- | cally taking place in this or the ad- J jaccnt colonies. And is it natural , to suppose that these people who < have indulged in this moderate form ot gambling for years, will entirely discontinue the practice because it is declared contrary to the law. A number, no doubt, apprehensive of its possible consequences will discontinue the practice, but ,others, perhaps the larger propertion will either run the risk of conviction and incurring the pains and penalties provided by the Act, and will continue to patronise, surreptitously of course, the consultations that, notwithstanding the Act and its attendant terrors, will inevitably be got up in some fashion or other, or they wi'l tend their money to other places outside the Colony where they are not prohibited by law, { from taking part therein. That a serious loss to the revenue in postage stamps, telegrams, &c, will inevitably result, no one will attempt to affirm. Many think that had the legislature sought to legalise consultations, their efforts in the direction of the repression of the gambling tendencies of the colony would in all probability have been attended with more congratulatory results. There is no doubt that the number of" rotten "consultations is annually on the increase; but the promoters, we fancy, will still find some means of carrying on their nefarious pursuits. Others think that had a stamp duty been -imposed on all tickets in consultations, sweepstakes, lotteries, et hoc yenas omne, a consi- \ derable revenue would have accrued | and dishonest ventures would have been eventually extinguished. On the Continent State lotteries are recognised Government institutions, and are carried out under Government supervision and control. But Mr Mombs, and our New Zealand Legislature, are determined to inculcate nolens voleua a higher code of morality, among the masses, and by rigorious prosecutions and the relentless enforcement of the provisions of the new Act, to suppress any imposition to gambling with an ! iron hand. Time will prove to what extent their anticipations in this direction will be realised. Our opinion is that the Act will be systematically and successfully evaded, and that many who were not previously given to speculative investments of this kind, will, when, the Act comes into operation,be induced to venture chiefly for the reason that being prohibited by law a certain amount of adventurous risk attaches itself to so doing, on the principle presumably that stolen kisses are sweetest. The the new Act will not tend to the practical diminution of gambling among the masses to any appreciable extent, is the opinion which is universally expressed by those who know how prone men are to break the law when that law, according to popular opinion, involves an unnecessary and vexotious interference with public liberty and the right of the subject.