A COSTLY EXPERIMENT.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 297, 10 December 1908, Page 2

A COSTLY EXPERIMENT.

We wonder whether the (lovornment. when it framed tlie new Naming Act of lust session legalising the lioukliwker as part of the gambling acressories on tiie racecourse, counted ill.' 1 oust to itself, ami to the eonntry in the wav of direct loss of rcvenu'e(sa/s the .Masterton Aye). Probably the point was not thought of, or if it was, it was not deemed of much importance, otherwise the (ioverinneat might have hesitated before it took a slop which ! promises to involve the Treasury in si pretty "caw annual loss, the benelif of which will not he derived liy the pulllie at large, but almost exclusively by the hookmaking fraternity. Tire loss will ensue in this way. that where '■thousands of pounds were previously invested through the medium of the totalisaior, from which the (Jovcni,lllo.lll draws a tax at the rate of Hi per cent., this money has gu.ic. or promises to go, through the bookmakers' hands, a channel "through which the CoveruinciU draws nothing in the way of revenue. U will he interesting to i learn what the result of the first year's trial of the new Act will mean to ihcouutrv in the way of lost revenue. The Age lis- been looking back over its files for the past few week*, taking therefrom the tutalisator figures for the last six meetings of importance (excepting Takapunal, and Inula that in comparison with the amounts passed throicih the machine at live of those nieetiiiL's hist vear. before the regime of the hooiiiuakor. there is a decrease of i.':i:;.SSi> in the iin est incuts, while in the -ixlh ease an increase of only Cl.'.ai is shown. This works mil roughly at a loss in totalisaior taxation to the t.'overninenl of .C.'iOU on I'ne meetings—an average of.CIOO a mwl-