THE NEW GAMING ACT.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 57, 30 November 1907, Page 6

THE NEW GAMING ACT.

• fci„ ■: i . * - „ . iIHB-IjICENSE 'EEE FOR BOOKMAKERS.' a CORRESPONDENTS.) - 'W ' !- I .'" Dunedin, November 29, ' f •'? Twajty-threel bookmakers ilast: night :i equested the Tahuna Trotting Club not to' makol'tho license-fee so high as £20 : a day,- -.- and' SBr..' A. : Ui'' Barclay also voluntarily ■waited on the club to give his opinion. Ho said ■ that, as, a member of Paniamont; he c had been consulted-by the bookmakers, and, .1 hearing. of ; -this meeting,, he attended to ex- j plain his views. ' The new.Actxshould have a fair, trial, .and..it .was understood t-hat.-it; . would be worked in a broad way. > Men'of- f 'good .character. would have to be . licensed, < but the fixing of the fees was left, entirely to. the clubs.- He was not present as a book- j makers' representative, but ho was of opinion that if the ,f?es wore fixed too high some' i ictipiif'ivoukLbo;-taken. /'Notwithstanding vail < the ;i,<jprcsentatic>ns, however,, the .club -deV- 1 cided'; to adlior'e;-,to the resolution" tolcharge £20 , Vas the- clvib,, not having a oopj : of, the!,.' Act, ; were npt in a position-to fully consider : the whole question. ' i ; THE FEILDING MEETING. J , \ Palmerston North,, November 29, , Jho ; bookmakers. v/lio" had".assembled-, at. ~ . Feilding to conduct operations on the course "to-day. conferred together 'early this' morn- s ing, and decided that the, conditions , imposed bv the_ Jockey) Club' .-ward...'such as would'preclude the possibility of their carry r 'ing "on a profitable business, and accordingly refused to pay the license...fee-.demanded; The ' Glub would not allow them on''the course'' as spectators, so they viewed ,the ■ races" from the outside.' I. understand the Jockey Club took advice from one" of. the leading legal luminaries in the Dominion, 'and"are perfectly'satisfied as to'the position they have taken up. -The conditions were that/each bookmaker. pay' a' fee of £20 and eaclf'elerl; a' similar sum, and that no bettirig y "be done ' outside, an enclosure; about '10 feel by G : "foet in a portion of .the'lawn' specially roped off, and a similar enclosure, en the outside; The pcncillcrs contend that feo is altogether too large, that' clerks should be admitted without fee, or for' a ;nomiffal amount;'' and that' tlie portion;'oij ■the Aground, set- off for them would bo absolutely - useless for betting. They 'certainly £ have a great deal in thoir ,favoiir in' this Hatter argument, for tho space alloted was |in an isolated part of the lawn, a long way 'from tho' totalisator, an unfavourable position from' their point of view.' Thero were 'over' twenty bookmakers at tho meeting, tbut- they -say on no conditions will/they pay (tho'/ihaximum fee. From what' ono can gather there would be cpnsiderably over that , number at all'the meotings 'if tbo fee was j. something Joss,' say £10 a day. 'The Club V will not discriminate, between bookmaker and clerk, " as the Bill' places' both on', the siimo .footing in regard .to offences against, .the . lav/. On. today's results tho presonco, of the/fielders would' scarcely have affected'the totalisator turnover, as an enormous, amount' 'of money v. ; a.<f slmt out from the machine [on almost every'race, whereas the liben'se fees- would have supplemented/the Jockey ( Club's income. There was a good deal of ! delay on the various events'to-day, and in , consequence the timo allowed for betting w;a's greatly diminished. Considering the record attendance '"and the big fields, the new regulations must have cost the Club a large sum of money, but when the public and officials .thoroughly grasp the conditions' ob- , taining matters may improve. The fact that j not a- .single favourite prevailed made it •' apparent that bookniakers would have had a 'royal day. Balancing the various opinions , expressed by different people, the Bill doos i not seem- to be a favourite with tho sporting public. 'Ten years sinco Feildiug Jockey Club .grappled with the question of prohibiting bookmakers from going on racecourses. This was the first club in JNow Zealand to take - definite and determined action in this direc- ' tion. 'Informations for- trespass were laid ogainst' several bookmakers, who insisted on being allowed on the courso, refusing to leave when ordered. The committee secured convictions in the .Lower Court, and a test case was taken to the Court of Appeal. The appeal went in faVour of the bookmakers, tho informations .having been witnessed by a Justice of the i'oace, who was.also a steward of tho Club. Tlijs inadvertenco cost tho , Club the case, but the effect of tho decision was to establish J the ,Club's right to prohibit bookmakers from -going on their courso; and also that all clubs' in New Zealand which owned the land upon <fyhich they raced were similarly situated. ,A CONFERENCE. > Palmerston Ntfrth, November 29. The Manawatu Racing tiiub has approved the suggestion of the Wanganui Club to hold i conference in. connection with the betting legislation,' v