POLLS ON BETTING AND LIQUOR

Press, Volume LXXXV, Issue 25734, 21 February 1949, Page 8

POLLS ON BETTING AND LIQUOR

CHURCH OF ENGLAND VIEW STATEMENT BY PUBLIC AFFAIRS COMMITTEE A statement on the forthcoming polls on the proposals for the licensing of off-course betting and for the extension of the hours for the public sale of liquor has been issued by the public and social affairs committee of the Christchurch Diocese of the Church of England. It says all members of the church have a grave responsibility in the exercise of their votes. “The proposal for the licensing of off-course betting, by the opening of Government-owned totalisator agencies, is one which requires the most careful examination,” says the statement. “Whether or not any and every form and occasion of gambling is wrong in itself may be a matter of opinion; but there can be no question either that excessive gambling is highly injurious both to the gambler himself and to the community, or that gambling, particularly betting on horse-racing, has already grown far beyond the bounds of moderation in New Zealand.

“The committee is convinced that the proposed off-course betting agencies would result, not only in a very large increase in the total betting on racing throughout the Dominion but also in a serious moral danger to the young people of the community. The cloak of respectability would be thrown over the practice of betting; and the sight of totalisator agencies, open for business under Government sponsorship, would constitute a strong temptation to many who at the present time neither attend races nor bet with bookmakers. “The other proposal, for 10 o’clock closing of public-houses, is one which must be considered from more than one point of view. There is the question of excessive drinking, and there is the question of the effect upon domestic and family life if the b ars are . open in the evenings The committee is aware of the evils which at present prevail under 6 o clock closing. But whether an extension of hours is better than reft»rms in the conditions under which yrmkmg takes place, and even more m the attitude of the public towards the consumption of liquor, it is for the, voters to consider. The committee s own opinion is that 10 o’clock closing, without such reforms, would not assure the improvement that most people desire to see.”