LONDON LETTER.

Auckland Star, Volume LXV, Issue 2, 3 January 1934, Page 2

LONDON LETTER.

REFORM OF THE LORDS FINING A DUKE. THE SPRINTING PRIVATE. (From Our Own Correspondent.) LONDON, November IS. A matter of great Importance which is occupying the minds of Parliamentarians just now is that of the reform of the House of Lords. Conservative committees have been considering the question for some time, and Conservative publicists have been advocating various schemes. The Conservative Private Members' Committee has decided on a full-dress discussion in the House next Monday. For a long while there have been many schemes for reform, and no doubt it will be very difficult to come to an agreed one. Generally, it is accepted that the Upper House is too large, and, at the same time, not fully representative of the nation. There is a widespread suggestion of reducing it to about 300 members, partly hereditary and partly elected or nominated. With this would go the abolition of the Parliament Act, which limits the peers' veto, and, at the same time, the Upper House would be given authority over money bills. None of these proposals is by any means new, but now they are bc'ing pressed to a decision in very influential quarters. The Duke of AtholPs Fund. What the Duke of Atholl himself described as "the end of the first round" was reached last week at Bow Street Police Court, when his Grace was fined £25 and 35 guineas costs for contravening the Lotteries Acts. The action followed the purchase of a large number of 10/ tickets, as contributions to the Duke of Atholls widely advertised fund.

This fund was instituted to divert the large sums of money which had left the country for payment of tickets in the successive Irish Sweepstakes. A certain proportion of the Duke's money was to go to English charities, and there was no direct promise of any prizes. The total amount was handed freely to the Duke to be used at his own discretion. But on a certain date, soon after the close of the fund, a number of money prizes were distributed. It was on account of this distribution that action was taken by the Government.

The Duke has announced hie intention to appeal, and, while necessarily debarred from comment, he claims that he has had something to do with the fact that the last Irish Sweepstake obtained less in contributions from England than at any time with the exception of the first two appeals. Sweepstakes and Lotteries. In the meanwhile, the Government is preparing legislation to amend the law on betting and gambling, and a bill will be introduced early in the Xew Year. While this bill will deal with a number of matters, including legalising the totalisator on dog tracks, public interest will doubtless concentrate on those clauses affecting lotteries and the sale of sweepstake tickets.

Gambling legislation is always beset with difficulties, and the present anomalies are as glaring as they are numerous. The contemplated Act will unquestionably make the sale of Irish and foreign lottery tickets much more difficult, and the penalties for infringement will be increased. Severe penalties, too, are anticipated for the sale of tickets for a club sweepstake to anybody except a bona fide member. Bazaar raffles, whist drive competitions and other like minor enterprises, involving chance, will be permitted. But, although efforts will be made to provide clear legal guidance and definition, no doubt there will remain what might be called border-line cases, which will continue to provide the courts with some nice problems. Athletic "Rookies." The army of to-day should certainly be "allright," so far as physique is concerned. For two years, the director of military training has been working at a standard of requisite fitness, and it reads like the requirements of a team of professional athletes or a troupe of acrobats. To reach the army standard, would-be recruits must be able to run a hundred yards in thirteen seconds and a mile in not more than six and a half minutes. The long jump must be twelve feet and the high jump, three feet four inches. Then there is the required ability to throw a sixteen pound shot a distance of twenty yards. To realise what all this means, it is necessary to compare these requirements with certain world records. The best hundred yards was in 9|s and the best mile in 4.10 2-5. The high jump record is 6ft BJin and the long jump, 26ft. Thus it is seen that the recruit is not required to be a champion, but certainly he would make a very respectable dispiay at the average sports meeting.

i Brightness oa the Roads. The pedal cycle seems to be enjoying . a new bout of popularity. Perhaps, this is not altogether surprising in these • days of financial stringency, when a cheap, simple and quick form of transport is likely to appeal to all Londoners. As if to celebrate the boom, the largest display of pedal cycles ever housed under one roof is now open at Olympia, where the Cycle and Motor Cycle Show is being held for the first time in three years. It is obvious, from a brief glimpse at the 1933 display, that the once rather despised "push bike" has fallen upon a good time. It is going in for colours, and, though a modest white predominates amongst most of them, a larger number than of old are painted in vivid greens, • reds and blues, so that our country ~ lanes are likely to present brighter . aspects at week-ends this winter than ) ever before.