DIVIDEND FRACTIONS.

Auckland Star, Volume XLIII, Issue 215, 7 September 1912, Page 5

DIVIDEND FRACTIONS.

WHO SHOULD GET THEM T AX APPEAL TO THE MINISTER. At a ra».i>i,ir.2 of the Auckland Mutual Sports. Protection Association, the question <-.f dividend fractions was di&cucsed at length. Ii M-a* de:ided to call the attention of ilio Minister for Justice to the retention of sixpences in dividends upon pound totslisatnr tickets. The following letter wig drafted, and it was resolved that, it should at once be sent to the Minister:— have the honour to convey to you the following resolution—'That the attention of the Minister for Justice be called to the '/act that the Auckland. Racing Club, for several seasons past, have continuously committed a breach of Section 35 of the <Vamir.s Act, 190S, in that they have retained sixpences in dividends on onepound tickets.' I am further directed to inform you that at the last Autumn ' Meeting of two days, the money thus retained amounted to over one hundred and fifty pound?. A.- this lias been going on for several seasons a very considerable sum is involved. In one race alone at the Autumn Meeting, over fortyseven pounds w-aa retained. The position will be clear when it" is mentioned that in working out the dividends, they reduce everything to ten-shilling chances, and then in order to arrive at the one-pound dividend., they merely double the dividend payable on tenshilling tickets instead of doubling the actual dividend. A* illustrating this, in the race above referred —the 4th race, St. George's Handicap, second day A-B-C. Autumn meeting, 1912. On the first horse (Xo. 5, Antoinette), there weTe 716 one-pound, tickets, ami 728 tenshilling tickets. The total on the machine was £6,576 10/. When ten per cent, commission (657) and a quarter for second horse (£1.547) bad been deducted, 'he amount was reduced to £4,641. Worked out on the ten-shilling basis, the actual divide on ten-Shilling tickets was £2 -2/11 f. Thie doubled for the pound tickets, £4 5/111. Dividend* paid were. £2 2/6 on ten-shilling tickets, and on pound tickets £4 5/. The dividend on one pound tickets should have been £4 5/6. according to the Act. showing that 716 sixpences were retained (£l7 18/1. On the second horse (No. 2, Soultoria) there -were 1.181 one->pound tickets, and 2,149 ten-shilling tickets, the amount for second horse to divide being £1.547 4/3. The actual divide on ten-shilling tickets was 6/101: on pound tickets, 13/& J. Dividends paid were, on ten-shilling tickets, 6/6: on pound tickets. 13/. According to the Act, the dividend on £1 tickets should have been 13/6, so that 1,181 sixpence* were retained (£29 10/6). As the racing public are already heavily taxed toy having two shillings deducted from every pound invested on the totalisator. it is but fair that they should receive their dividends in full, as provided ; by law."