TAX ON BETTING.

Press, Volume LXII, Issue 18625, 25 February 1926, Page 14

TAX ON BETTING.

A'BRITISH PROPOSAL. SUPPORT JFOR PARI-MUTUSL. (FROM OVB'OWK- COEKE9PONDEST.) LONDON, December 24. Lieutenant-Colonel- (retired) ' H. A.. Lane, [ gives his view about the suggested tax .oa betting. ,He considers it certainly necessary that steps should now be taken fcy the Gov- ' eminent to check the mania for betting which has got such a strong'hold of people of all classes in this country. During recent years . (he ; writes in tha "Morning Post") thousands of women, who before'the war would never have thought of this mode of gambling, now bet almost daily on horse races. Among tho poorer classes; and tho unemployed, this .vice,of betting i* now the most- important interest of the day. The morning is spent in getting tips •"»«$ making bets,, and the evening -in; Bniitsf pijf "what's won." This state of Ahing*:, W produced a host of bookmakers who biHen on the'' foolishness and.; ignorance $1 t>td r *lat|e' population of backors. This Vice has rioir reached such large dimensions that it'is uow a national curse, which is undermining' the' moral of all classes. The Government have now .an opportunity not pply to reduce, coosiderably tho amount of betting, • but,at the same time to tax betting and bring'» substantial sum each month into the Treasury. It would no doubt be a good thing for the r tiatioß. to stop all betting, but this is aiming\at tho impossible. Let us follow the example set in other countries ahd have, "the Pa'ri; mutuel" or "totalisator"'on all racecourses, and do away with all bookmakers of every kiud. All other betting should be illegal." bookmakers and Totalisator. ' A 'reply comis from one signing himself "Now Zealand.". As a New Ze'alander who has been concerned in racing in the Dominion for thirty years as owner and breeder, he "can only say that-Colonel Lane's belief that the" introduction of the totalisator (or 'toto' as we call it) kiHs tho. bookmaker is entirely erroneous. Some years ago, as a steward of a Metropolitan Club, I had,-with others, seriously to consider the question,' and say to-day emphatically that tho monopoly of totalisator betting in New • Zealand has not lessened the number of bookmakers who atUI operate off (he courses.' 'ln fact, there ara more bookmakers in New Zealand U>-day than thero. ever were in any previous year, and none are allowed on the courses. The reason for the* increased number is simple. "In the old days n bookmaker to be successful, needed education end ability before ha' could ply his trade or profession,successfully. .To-day no mental arithmetic •or abstruse calculations are required to 'lay tba odds,' for the tote does.all that work. The totalisator fixes the price every time. The dividends p&id by the tote are the price* paid by the bookmakers off the course,- with this exception, that the bookmaker in . our country limits his liability to £7 IDs for £1 invested on the winner, and he limits bis liability to £2 10s for £% on the second horse. The bookmaker pays on the first and second horse as the tote doos, with, however, in the bookmaker's case, the above limitation. .■ -, . ■ .'' : \ "You will, therefore, eee it does not require a genius for such operations.". If a bookmaker holds a bigger sum on a favourite than he.cares to "stand," he generally contrives by code to wire to a friend who can place a large part of the parcel on the horse in question on tho totalisator,"• and in this way both reduce the dividend and 'at the same time reduce the amount of bis liability on' the balance of the parcel he holds. Though bookraaking is illegal, juries will .not convict except in very special cases." Weak Administration. 'To-day Colonel Lane writes that he fails to see that "New Zealand" proves his.statement. "At the end df his letter, he writes: 'Though bookraaking is illegal, juries will not convict except in very special cases.' This is not the fault of the system of limiting betting to the totalisator. hut the fault of the weak administration of this law in New Zealand; it? the wording of this law really I makes bookmakers illegal. I have had experience of racing in several countries, and have trained and ridden .my own horses.. J Was particularly struck by the great, profits made by the totalisator in France, the Argentine, and Egypt, in which countries there are no bookmakers."