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Press, Volume LV, Issue 16653, 14 October 1919, Page 6

A month or two ago, for the second time, Mr Bonar Law was asked in the House of Commons whether the Government would introduce legislation providing for tho introduction of tho totalizator into England l : And for the second time he expressed the opinion that he did not think the adoption of the suggestion would be desirable, though he somewhat weakened this statement by admitting that he was "not very familiar with the instrument referred! tojif Colonel Meysey-Thompson, who put tho question, pointed out that in JYance in one. year the race-going public invested thirteen millions sterling in the pari-mutuel, tho French totnlisator, of -which sum 8 per cent, went to the Government, 4 per cent, to the racing clubs. 2 per cent, for the support of hospitals, and 1 per cent?-.for the direct encouragement of horsebreeding.

[ Dealing with the subject in an article | in tho London ''Observer," that , able writer on racing matters, Mr Edward Moorhouse, suggests that Mr Bonar Law's evident reluctance to give consideration to the introduction of the totalisator is based on a feeling that tho Government "could not safely ask Parliament to sanction the taxation of betting by adopting the pari-mutuel and deducting a percentage of the turnover." He points out that those people who think the nation would soil its hantb by deriving revenue from this source forget tliat the Treasury already receives this "tainted money" in the form of taxation on the incomes of bookmakers, and on the profits derived from racihg and breeding. "To pretend! that tho legalisation of the pari-mutuel would involve the establishment of a now principle is therefore nonsense."

With reference to Colonel MeyseyThompson's statement regarding French investments in the pari-mutuel, .Mr Moorhoiue points out that in the last year before the- war the amount was not thirteen, bufr nearly sixteen millions. and he adds: "It is practically certain that if we had the pari-mutuel in operation in this country under i>he same conditions as in France—that is, with bookmakers barred—the annual turnover would be from £25,000,000 to £30,000,000. If it were £25,000,000, itiid 10 per cent, were deducted before dividends were paid, after payment of expenses and the allocation of substantial sums for the encouragement of Tacing and horse-breeding, there would still remain a luscious plum to place in the pie of the Chancefllor of the Exchequer." ' It is quite within the bounds of possibility that one of the distinctive features of racing in England, the "roar of the ring," may yet disappear, and that "the tote 1 ' may become as strongly established there as in France and New Zealand. Customs change slowly at Home; but they do change, even in sport. i

Some moneyed people in Melbourne evidently believe that the future of evening entertainments rests with the moving pictures. Therefore they are prepared to encourage popular taste in that direction by erecting picture theatres such as have yet been seen nowhere outside America. One of these theatres is to be built on what is virtually an island at tho junction of Collins and Swanston streets. Tho building alone, which will include a cafe and possibly a cabaret, besides several suites of offices, will cost £300,000, apart from the cost of the site. The theatre will seat 3000, and space is to be provided for an orchestra of forty members. The architect is to be am American who quite lately was supervising the erection in the States of seventeen theatres of his own designing. Another Melbourne syndicate is making preparations to build, also in;

Swanston street, an even bigger theatre with accommodation for an audience of 3300, a large organ, and an orchestra of sixty. This place, too, will cost some £000,000. The 'legitimate" drama was never housed so elaborately in its palmiest days, before the fflim play threatened its popularity.