Rangitikei Advocate. FRIDAY, DEC. 6, 1907. SECOND EDITION. EDITORIAL NOTES.

Rangitikei Advocate and Manawatu Argus, Volume XXII, Issue 9020, 6 December 1907, Page 2

Rangitikei Advocate. FRIDAY, DEC. 6, 1907. SECOND EDITION. EDITORIAL NOTES.

THE bookmakers’ Ministry evidently intend to take care of the interests of their r-’ts, and to miss no opport uni tv of promoting them. By legislation they have given the Tellers of odds a legal status, but the clubs do nor appear to share in the goodwill of the Ministry towards the people who depend on sport for their means of existence. Most of the club.-:, indeed, previously refused to a how bookmakers or their clerks to at'end their meetings, and. naturally enough, when the Ministry attempt to force them to permit their at :tmdauco the clubs fix the fee at the maximum, and a.lso attach otner limitations to the exercise of iaeir efforts. The position which has been reached is a couse,'uouce u. he State grasping a revenue from he taxation of a sport of the pew] lc. Tin 1 tax implied the issue of licenses to use the means of gambling, and the license implied control by the State. But the revenue of the clubs was derived from the totalisator, not from the bookmakers, v. ho diverted money from the machine, and lienee, the desire of the clubs for ■ their total exclusion. It is rather curvjTc=? that tbo State management, seeing tlia't, revenue from totalisator tax is lost iih the bookmakers divert money from the machine, should be so anxious to servo the interests of the bookmakers,^but. of course, even politicians will 'do a good deal for their friends, provided al'"ays that it is done at other people’s expense. In response to the waul of the bookmakers a Minister *as practically issued a threat to the Mobs that if they will not allow thed bookmakers to ‘freely exercise tl'icir “calling’’ they shall not be alloeyed to nso the totalisator. They urjj to bo coerced into allowing that to which they have hitherto’been strongly opposed, and which causes 1 them loss. One cannot avoid the. conclusion that for some unexplained reason the State management lias a. strong sympathy witli (he bookmakiug fraternity. Possibly the land-gambling and continuous borrowing have had demoralising effects.

IT is evident that a new water scheme will have to bo umle.nnkoa in Mni'tay.i, iiiM it would be well it a high pressure supply suitable_ tor drinking purposes could be provided. To spend money on the present supply, which ’is fit neither for drinking nor washing, would _ be throwing money away, unless it is absolutely certain that a satisfactory water scheme is entirely beyond the resources of the Borough. Through the courtesy of the Town Cleric we have examined the rate-book in order to determine by a somewhat complicated series of calculations; the maximum sum which can be collected as a water rate iu Marten. Any scheme requiring greater rating power than allowed under the Act would be condemned betorehand, and therefore need not be considered. Our investigations show that there are 10G properties of an annual value of less than £l2 JOs. on which the maximum rate chargeable is 10s per annum. These would produce £53. The total value Of properties rated at between £l2 10s and £IOO is fi'.dSl, on which the rate may not exceed 7 per emit, and these would yield £('b'l. The 12 properties valued at over £IOO would similar!;, produce £I3G. The total th,i> readied is £873, but-as properties winch do not use water pay Only half rates wo shall bo witluu rue mark if wo consider that £BOO per annum is the absolute- maximum that can be collected as a water rate. This would provide interest on about £30,000, so that unless a good water supply can he provided for loss than that sum the people of Martou must bo content with a supply suitable for lire extinction alone.