THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 1911. THE GAMING ACT.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10421, 12 September 1911, Page 4

THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 1911. THE GAMING ACT.

The position, of the Government in regard to the Gaining Act is parti--oulaiiy intereisitang just now. There is a good deal of speculation in the country as to w&lat attitude will be assumed hy the ! Raring Commissioners, who lilave been invited to revise their reoonumendations. It is impossible to conceive that tihe Commissioner® will stultify themselves to suit the whim, of certain Parliamentarians who find themselves in an awkward place. The Dunedin "Star," wihicihi had a representative upon the Commission in Mr Albert Cohen., puts the position thus<ly:— Unless, the House wishes to lay itself open to the charge of flouting the expressed will of the country with the deliberate object of making safe certain seats, which were none too safe for their present holders, but are now slhaky because tihe use of tihe "itotte" within those electorates has either been sensibly reduced or dispensed with altogether—unless there is to he an insidious attempt to jerrymander the constituencies —(tine position so clearly, explicitly, and fearleslslly laid down by the Min.iater of Railways during the discussion on August 18tJh admits of no variation, whatever:— The Government believe thlat the Act of las% sesision to be given a fair trial before being amended. It has

never been before the country, and we do not know whether the country aproves of it or not. The country has had no opportunity of giving a lead in the maltter, and the Government are now asked to stultify their action, of last year by agreeing to the proposals o£ the Bill. xinat would be going back on the work done last year; it would be delibeiraltely increasing the mimibeir of days of racing and the number of clubs. That is the attitude of the Government. . . . xlhe Bill having become law, the Govern/meat (and I ami speaking now with a full knowledge of the opinion of Cabinet) intend to stand by the law of last session. This. Biill now before Parliament may be put on the Statute Book, but, so far as the Government are concerned, we are going to support the report of the CommisI sion. . . . The report of the Com/mission should be allowed to I sitand for at least one year, as that ' I was the intention of Parliament last" session. Those who know the Hon. Mr Millar do not require to be told that he has the courage of Ms- convictions, and on this particular issue he has. never been afraid to exi presisi them., even though in doing so I he has probably incurred a not inJ considerable degree of hostility in |. some quarters. But in expressing himself in the unequivocal manner he did on the occasion referred to i (August 18th) it nwist.be held that he was put up to expound the wellconsidered decision of the Government after calmly weighing all the "protests" and unreasonable demands of dissatisfied clubs. Andfrom that decision there ought to be no drawing back, for the following, among other reasons:— 1. The Oommdsisioners did their work thoroughly, sys.tematioa.lly and impartially; though Sir Joseph Ward pays them the dubious compliment of saying that they did it to ".the best of their ability." They visited every racecourse in the. Dominion, having previously notified the clubs interested of ifliie date of their visit. In the majority of cases representatives of the clubs attended on the ground and explained! how their affairs sitood, so that the "reasonable j consideration" enjoined by the statute Was accorded in every instance. 2. Parliament itself fixed, the number of days by wihich racing during | j the current season must, be reduced. ! The allotment was made in strict ( accordance with the demand' of Parliament, dates in accordance with that allotment,have been assigned by the Racing Conference, and the clubs have drawn up and issued their programmes for the> 1911-12 season, with increased stakes in nearly every instance. 3. When the Commission, were set "*> it was with the distinct understanding that their recommendations must be carried out for one year. , Both Sir Jiamesi Carroll and Mr, J Millar, wflio may be fairly presumed J to have a better knowledge of the \ actual..racing requirements of the flominioni than ail the rest of their colleagues, have committed themiaelves to the opinion that the report, with whatever imperfections it posj sasses (and we have never denied that it has blemishes that might have been avoided), must be tested J before beiing condemned, and\that is { the course which the country expects shall be followed. If after the experience of the present racing season it is found that legitimate griev-/ anoes have not been remedied—fthiat' the volume of racing has not been reduced, and that the gambling evil and all it connotes still flourish—then it will be the clear duty of Parliament to interpose and devise drastic measures for coping with the great trouble and removing ground's for- dissfatisifaction in other directions.