The Wairarapa Daily. FRIDAY, JULY 15, 1881.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 3, Issue 820, 15 July 1881, Page 2

The Wairarapa Daily. FRIDAY, JULY 15, 1881.

The Gaming and Lotteries Bill of the present session lias passed through the Legislative Council, and the Lords have, condpnerl. the sins they are inclined to by iaipiflg those they have iio mind to." It remains to be seen whether the members of (the Jftuso of Representatives will be equally yir r tuous. The measure is sufficiently repressive in its character, but it lws too many loopholes. A limited amount of gambling among respectable people is permitted, 'but all other phases of joining' are visited with heavy penalties. $9 heavy indeed that we cannot ijieip thi,uti\ig the bill is meant as a sort of scarecvof t ( o jfrighten bookmakers anfl 'lottery The colony is wont" to pass acts''which are' formidable as lions and tigers in .print, snd terrible! as lambs in practice. We jjayo no objection to seeing colonists made' Vinous by act of parliament, but- we cannot help thinking that if the present bill was mildej,' jn its tone there would be more chance of it effecting the object for which it is designed, In tlti act "of this character half the battle lies in it being well administered by the officers of the Crown, but the stringency of the measure before us shows ■ that it is one: that the Govern-

raent meaii to pass but not to'.■administer The. first'portion -ofvjhe/ljiif refers to gaining. In any thj|s .popular amusement; is;.{i'isi)|«; tpxist,,tjie pplicoi/.xfciay brw| jfiand ,arrest eyjrybptly [w)s is. apparpn|lyl it^dul giiig jin jtlio malp^tice ( ;yandHiie? ,p.ehalty;'toV the] lioulehjiiderif on a con| viction is\ fine of not nibre or six months imprisonment; --It-wllf be observed that an Englishman's house .AvilLafterJhe-passingW-tMs enactment cease to be liis castle. The penalty,.foi] a frequenter of tlie 'house is Mo, ..with. 4he-alteiMmtive-T)f-thre'6"'''montlilTnr jiijisoimienti \ Hard" labor; may too be a feature :in'the sentence. The second part of the f bill deals with betting oftices' and rooms, for speculating in horse racing, tights, games, and.sporjs, '■ Such' places-arc declared common" nuisances,, and, are treated, precisely as gaining hduses in' the former part of the bill, The third section of the measure prohibits lotteries.'...The" sale of land, ships, goods,'&, bymeaWof any game of chancels declared,im|a\yful, and perhaps, .to compensate for the- . half-penny, in: the, Property Tax which ■it is. proposed to'abandon, the 1 fine's' run" as high as ! '£2oo. ' Nothing/ h'oWver,' in this section is said about hard labor, ohe Government apparently giving a decided preference to revenue. • In default,-.-however, • the : victim's'''of'this part of the bill cau'be secluded 'with Micauh for a. term.' We cannot help thinking that if any kind of gambling ,-is had, all;kinds are vicious, and consequently that if any phase of it be made unlawful all phases • of it should',be made unlawful.' I ,lf the present bill had not been very severe on some points and exceedingly light on others, we would have been more hopeful of a good result from it, A church committee may get .six months hard labor for raffling a. pincushion; but ; an" agricultural committee may rafflea'pig' with impunity. A swindler may raise a thousand pounds by raffling useless works of art, and escape aiiy penalty under the act, but an honest mah'who ventures, say, to dispose of his buggy or watch in a similar manner, may have to pay some hundred or two hundred pounds : forfeit. A horticultural committee may work a lottery, but a hospital . committee will he assuredly locked up if it does so. Of course totalisators are freed from penalty under the act. And yet totalisating is gambling, gaming, and lottery, pure and undiluted. : Can it- be; said that while the. totalisator is 'retained, gambling is really repressed? With so many loopholes in the fence with which Parliament is now surrounding " gambling," it may resonably be expected that almost every culprit will find some means of escape. Timid speculators will be daunted, but' the bold rovers who are wont to make' money on the turf and elsewhere will no doubt be able still to carry on their ordinary avocations in such a way as. to evade any serious consequences to themselves.