"BOOKIES" CASTIGATED.

Auckland Star, Volume LX, Issue 142, 18 June 1929, Page 3

"BOOKIES" CASTIGATED.

CRIMINALS AND PARASITES. CALL UPON THE GOVERNMENT BY COUNCIL OF CHURCHES. If ever (lie bookmaker —or the cult of gambling —was treated to a severe eastigation, it was last evening, when the Rev. Dr. North dealt with the matter in an address at the Council of Christian Congregations, when the following motion, with a dissentient, 1 carried: —"That the first obligate : the Government in amending the G. Acts is to legislate for the obi .tion of the bookmaker. The coui.v.l regards the immunity enjoyed by these criminals as inimical to the national wellbeing and a reproach to any Government, which, by inaction, suffers them to continue." Mentioning that the Hon. de la Perrelle, Minister of Internal Affairs, proposed to put a Gaming Bill before next session of Parliament, the speaker said that, according to details which had

been revealed, it was legislation deeper than what it appeared. It indicated a hostility to the legislation for which Sir Joseph Ward was originally responsible. It was hard to understand the talk about more facilities to newspapers and to racing clubs, while the bookmaker

remained immune. Was the new. Government going to insist on the enforcement of the law and smite its lawbreakers, the noisy and defiant class known as bookmakers? Was the Minister, now proposing some new enactments, going to stand by and ineptly permit the extension of facilities for these immoral people who debased the country? Should be Suppressed. The bookmakers—and he had a typed list of their names in his hand—had a registered association. They were a wealthy institution, which openly boasted that they had some politicians "in their | pockets" —snapped their fingers at the law "of the land, and, with offices and agents, (Continued operations throughout the Dominion. Yet, everyone of these bookmakers was a criminal branded by the 1 law. They were a band of parasites just! as immoral in their operations as the keepers of brothels, and they pursued j their trade through a faulty, law to the ; detriment of public morality. He supj ported the recent statement of a Law Society in the South, whose president said there was no reason why this illegal traffic should not be suppressed. This gang of "capitalists," an avowed powerful political force, squared juries, attempted to contaminate the police, and stepped to the lowest degrees to inter- - fere with the course of justice and in J allied acts. These people could be abolished, and he considered that any Government which allowed itself to be contaminated or hoodwinked by such criminals, who were a public menace, was not entitled to respect. The continuance of bookmakers was an affront to common decency and to national or community | justice. A Corrupting Influence. For three years, prior to 1911, book- ■ makers were licensed, but, in response to an unparalleled public demand, they were prohibited. To-day the existence of j Lhem was perfectly well known. They had telegram, telephone and post office box systems, and offices which openly did business. He knew of one in Christchurch who had a convenient telephone amongst his "cabbages" so that, even when gardening, people could ring up their bets. (Laughter.) Some of the racing club people patronised the bookmakers "to keep their dividends sweet," but the speaker concurred with an independent opinion that even racing was as dirty as it could be. It had good and decent supporters, but how could they keep it clean when betting entered v Bookmakers wcro defying the lav. i destroying sport, and corrupting the young people of the country. He agreed that charges against bookmakers should lie placed before a judge and not decided by jury, that bookmakers should have no right to public facilities for their j business, that landlords should make it impossible for bookmakers to use their premises as offices, and, finally, that any person suspected of being a bookmaker should be compelled to give prima facie evidence that lie or she was not idle and disorderly in terms of the Police Offences Act, and at intervals should be required to give a report showing legitimate occupation. If the Government was sincere it could clean up the bookmakers instead of allowing itself to be the laughing stock of these criminals. It was not a matter of pandering to the newspapers on such questions as the publication of dividends. "The first thing is to extirpate these criminals," concluded Mr. North. Speakers For and Against. Seconding the motion, the Rev. Lawson Marsh said he had come to the conclusion, based on experience, that gambling was a worse evil than strong drink and was far more corrupting. The Rev. A. Russell Allerton said lie wanted to dissociate himself as far as possible with the remarks made by the previous speakers. If the law about bookmakers had been brought into contempt it was because it had been pushed too far ahead of public opinion; otherwise bookmakers would not have been tolerated. He disagreed with the tenor of what had been said, and thought that the term "parasites" was a .misuse of .language. When they discussed betting by the working man, did they consider the gambling that occurred on the Stock Exchange in connection with stocks of commodities? Because this went on in the hands of Wealthy people nothing was said. I The Rev. G. Gordon Bell said he was in favour of getting rid of bookmakers, but lie was utterly unconvinced that the public thought so. To be consistent they should call upon the Government to abolish the totalisator. Replying to Mr. Ellerton regarding language used in describing the bookmakers, the Rev. Dr. North said he had no apologies to make, as the law wa3 quite clear on the subject. The trade of bookmaking was a glaring public scandal.