BETTING AND GAMBLING.

Press, Volume LX, Issue 18204, 15 October 1924, Page 11

BETTING AND GAMBLING.

j TO TH2 EDITOR OF "THE FKESS-'' j —Pardon me lor sarins that, no ■ opponent, of racing, with iis accorui paniment of can talk such | "rubbish''' a ; you do when m- your | taidtr this morning you say that "tho j driving force:, behind the opposition to | racing: and the iot.alifat.or ore, to put j it. quite plainly, prejudice and ignor- | anco.. ' j our readers will have cocui mon-seitec enough to know that-- such a i statement. Ls talsified ibv the frequent j report.?, in your own paper of criminal trials before ;he Magistrates a.nd Supreme Court Judges, m which tho prime factor in leading to the defendant's downfall has bc<-.n gambling on the race-courie. The Chief Justice. Sir Robert Stout.. hn;> voiced tho {opinion or other Judges besides himself in - saying: "''(.jamming means tho df-st.ruetion of true national life. It is a. great evil in our midst.. Our criminal records bear testimony t.o that. Tt is .1 potent cause of thefts, embezzlements, and forgeries." Mas it "prejudice and ignorance'' that accounted for such a statement as that-?' You insist upon evidence being forthcoming in support of the eharco concerning the demoralising influence of racecourse gambling. Very well. There ir> not a. Court of Justice in tho wholo Dominion from which evidence could not be obtained in support of such a..charge. As for your reference to the article by Sir Leo Chiozva Money on "Betting in Britain,"' it. must surely require a lively imagination on your paxi, to discover a single sentence in it to strengthen your. raw?.. .It, .certainly isn't a prettv picture that., the o.rticle give*.- of Britain as ravaged by tho gambling fiend, but do you'really think that,!he introduction of th© totalisator would make tie conditions thero any better? Has not; our own experience in New Zealand shown us that, enormous as may be the volume of betting J in Britain to-day, it would be increased tontold if the totalisator were established:' May not. many of tho things that are said of the means by which betting 011 races is pushed in Britjain, be also said of New Zealand, which, according to your view, has the advantage of the totalisator P To use your own word again, it is sheer rubbish to affirm that any benefit accrues to tho State from the totalisator, on the ground that it yields a certain percentage of revenue to the State treasury. That argument is just as rotten when applied to- gambling as it is when applied to alcoholic drinking. It is based upon the ridiculous assumption that the money invested in the tote, can and will be invested in that way and in no other, totally ignoring the obvious,fact, that there axe other ways of investing the same money, that would be equally productive of revenue to the State, without the moral drawbacks with which gambling is associated.—Yours, etc., W. J. WILLIAMS. I October 14tb, 1921.