Bookmaking as a Secondary Industry

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 1040, 2 August 1930, Page 12

Bookmaking as a Secondary Industry

GOVERNMENT RECOGNITION WANGANUI J.C. MEETING In addressing members at this week’s annual meeting of the Wanga-’ nui Jockey Club, the president, Mr. E. A. Campbell, stated that members must agree that, considering the circumstances, .the club had had a satisfactory year, even though the year’s operations had resulted in a loss of some £667. That, he said, could largely be attributed to the fact that the stakes given by the club were too high in proportion to the totalisator turnover. The Wanganui Club was getting no more support than clubs giving far less in the way of stakes. It was' his opinion that the committee would have to consider very seriously the question of reducing the stakes. In addition, he said, the legislators in Wellington had. in their wisdom, proposed an additional levy on the totalisator turnover of per cent That, he maintained, was just playing into the hands of the bookmaking fraternity, and would be of considerable assistance to that class unless the telegraphing of investments to the course were introduced. “They are short of revenue,” said Mr. Campbell, “but at the present juncture it appears injudicious to bring in this new taxation on the totalisator turnover. The Government now gets nearly half a million a year from racing, which constitutes a very heavy tax on the sport in New Zealand.” Too Much Stake Money The honorary treasurer, Mr. 11. G. Lewis, stated that he regretted that a loss had to be disclosed to members, but the amount was almost wholly accounted for by the decrease in totalisator revenue, which had dropped by over £ 600. The committee had perhaps been unduly optimistic in offering stakes equal to those offered in the previous year, but the results did not justify expectations. lie quoted figures which, he said, would give members some idea of the amount by which the Wanganui stake-money exceeded the proportion of totalisator revenue received by other clubs. Giving the totalisator turnover and totalisator revenue for each club, he produced the following figures, which gave the amount by which the stakes offered exceeded the revenue obtained by the respective clubs: Wellington £1,075 Taranaki 1,875 Egmont "2,480 Feilding 947 Manawatu 1,283 Marton 652 Avondale 700 Wanganui 4,583 “Members will agree that that is an impossible position and we cannot carry on at that rate,” said Mr. Lewis. “Manawatu gives £1,600 less than Wanganui, though their totalisator is greater. It may be, as the winter and spring meetings showed no loss, the fixtures coming out all square, the loss on the autumn meeting has been the cause of the present position of affairs. Perhaps the fact that the dates for that meeting do not suit causes the loss, but I would like the critics of the autumn date to pay a visit to the Dates Committee and find out for themselves the difficulty of securing any other dates.” If They Had Known If the committee had had any Idea that the increased taxation proposals of the Government were in the air.

continued Mr. Lewis, they would have viewed with considerable misgiving any idea of maintaining the same stakes for the spring meeting as had ruled at the 1929 meeting. The taxation proposed would affect the club’s turnover, it was estimated, to the extent of £ 5,000 a day. ‘The public would undoubtedly resent the reduction of their pound investment by 3s 4Jd every time it went through the totalisator. “Apparently,” he concluded, “the Government ’ recognises the bookmaker as one of the secondary industries that must be encouraged, and with a 15 per cent, protection he flourishes exceedingly.” On the motion of Mr. W. S. Glenn, it was decided to forward to the Government the following resolution in support of the committee’s protest regarding the proposed taxation increase:—“That this annual meeting of members of the Wanganui Jockey Club enters an emphatic protest against the suggested increased taxation of racing, which will drive the investing public into the arms of the bookmakers, and. point out that the proper manner in which the required taxation should be raised is by permitting the telegraphing of investments on the totalisator.”