Truth THE BOOKS AND THE LAW.

NZ Truth, Issue 138, 8 February 1908, Page 4

Truth

THE BOOKS AND THE LAW.

PUBLISHED EVERY SATURDAY MORNING AT LUKE'S LANE (OFF MANNERSSTREET), Wellington, n.Z. Subscription (m advance), iss. per annum. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 1908.

♦— The much-discussed and cursed and disgusting Gambling Act . is going to create no end of trouble if the Cabi--net doesn't step m and give the Racing Clubs a gentle hint that laws are made to be obeyed and not evaded. The recent meeting of the Racing Conference, although held hugger-mugger showed very plainly by the resolutions adopted and given to the press what the feeling of the majoiity of the Conference members is m regard to tbe new law and what their attitude will be if it should ever come to pass that they have the power of dealing with the bookmakers -as they think fit. But fortunately for the layers of odds; they have a small protection against the rapacity of tbe Racing Clubs ifi the new law, but it is only small, and the degree of comfort it offers' is barely visible to the naked eye. The law says that 'bookmakers shall be licensed to bet at all registered race meetings, but 'the Racing Clubs have the power to charge a prohibitive entrance fee and put the bookmaker where they darned "well please. An evasion of the law is an insult to their patrons. If a man pays ; a racing club 10s to go into the lawn m the expectation of being able to wager with a boobttnakcr and- be finds the bookmakers are confined to a portion of the ground not readily accessible, he has paid his half soy. under false pretences. The- AttorneyGeneral hinted some time ago when waited uptin by a deputation of bookmakers that pressure . would be brought to bear upon clubs who openly broke. the spirit ofthe Act by taking advantage of its slovenly drafting. But no kdck has come yet. . Not even a snort at those impudent resolutions passed by the ■ Racing Conference. ,' Just a word or two regarding these same resolutions. "Truth" would just like to ask the Conference wha\right it has to interfere with the law, and why the devil it should* dictate the terms upon which bookmakers are to be suffered. It has told Parliament that it doesn't know its business, and it's not so far wrong there, but it goes further and has! the insufferable cheek to ignore Parliament altogether and lay down laws of its own. There is nothing m the law to say how many or how few bookmakers .shall field at any meeting, or that one bookmaker shall not act as his partner'sclerk, or what bookmakers shall not lay wagers on the result of more than one race. But the Conference has settled all these points and has told the law to go and chase it-sell. The fact of the matter is, that this Conference concern has far too great powers vested m it, and, moreover, is run by a cliffue who are greedy for the dollars and don't think the

public worthy of as much consideration as you could put m a liqaieur glass. They don't want the bookmakers because the machine is a better means of bleeding the-public. Does the racing public ever turn round and have a look at itself ? If it did it would be astonished at the length of its ears. Let us take the patron of the recent Trentham horse sports. He pays 4s 6d train fare, any old carriage he can scramble into ; 10s at: the gate ; Is for a race book; 2s Gd for als Gd lunch, and 2s 6d far a bottle of Is 6d English beer ; the respectable total of £<1 0s 6d for the privilege of watching the horses run round the ring.; or if he is a prohibitionist and scorns the luncheon beer, 18s for his little trip. If he is d. very moderate punter and goes out with a fiver, he has £4 to bet with after paying exes. Put through themachine, £1 a race,-, at the fifth race he has only £3 12s, providing he is lucky enough to win his own money back. That money invested on the next four races reduces it another 7s. That leaves him £3 5s out of his fiver (and he has lost no money gambling), or m other words, his day's outing has cost him £1 15s. For the three days five guineas. An expensive sport, this horse-racing ! And every penny of this goes into the pocket of the Club, less portion of the train fare. When the public -have to pay through the nose like this for their sport, have *sthey not a right to some say m the government of racing ? Or are they to stand tamely by, like so many sheep awaiting the shearer, and allow a gold-bug clique to throw them dirt ? ' * » • Until the law as it now stands is amended there never can he any satisfactory relations 'between, the fielders ami the clubs. The clubs are a.ilqwed by law to charge an exorbitant fee, and the Racing Conference has backed the clubs up m their resolve to keep to the limit. In comparison with other countries, New Zealand's charges are easily first. In * Sydney i Brisbane, and Melbourne, the average charge per day for Metropolitan clubs is £5. In Western Australia, the Perth Cup meeting is a bit stiff, £70 for four days, but the Perth Cup meeting is equal, from a betting point of view, to our N.Z. Cup meeting. At the Belmont Park Cup meeting (Perth), a great betting meeting, the charge is £8 per day. Here we have one horse meetings, I&o Woodville, and others equally small, charging the enormous price of £20 per day. lf the bookmaker is to ply his calling he must maV.-e a profit somewhere, and when he has a hurdle of £20 for a start, how are the public getting on. Can he possibly lay a fair price ? Ho can lay a point longer than the tote occasionally, but bo should he ahl_ to lav seveiral points longer all the time if he hadn't that £20 deadwood to carry. A bookmaker can do all right on 5 per cent, of his turn over witli good betting. The tote takes 10. Certainly the country gets 1 per cent, of this back per total isator tax, but given a reasonable entrance fee, tho books could pay a 1 per cent, tax too. This is another point upon which the drafters of this wretched Bill blundered badly. No provision was made for forcing the clubs to a-nte-up one per cent, of the mortev represented by bookmakers' foes. How much has the country lost by this already ? Take a meetinpc at which' there arc 20 penfillers at £20 each. That represents £400 to the club, or the equivalent of £4000 put through the machine— 'a dead loss to the Treasury of £40. This, is a matter tho Attorney-General should look into, and is only another of the innumerable arguments to be brought forward for the speedy abolition of this most abortive ptfece of legislation. "Truth" herewith offers Dr. Findlay the office axe to chop the blasted thing into bits as little as the brains that created it. /