THE ANTI-GAMBLING MOVEMENT.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 67, 12 December 1907, Page 5

THE ANTI-GAMBLING MOVEMENT.

. - INTERVIEW WITH A-VICTORIAN REFORMER. • (from our srEcr.u, cobbssfohdkkt. ' ■ Melbourne, December 2. Tiast week, 1 had an interview with the Rev. T. S. B. Woodfnll/ who has been prominently associated with Mr. Judkins in the . anti-gambling movement. -Mr. Woodfnll lias, been for" many years connected with mission work in Collingwood, which: is one of'/ho poorest suburbs of Melbourne, and lately has become so convinced that, a largo amount of the poverty in' his district is dircctly, duo to gambling- arid'drinking, particularly to' the former, that he determined to dc all;in his power to remedy the conditions.'- •'< ' "Until 'lately," said Mr." Woodfull, "twoup- sctiools, tote-shops, and gambling houses abounded on all sides, and around them wero congregated- spielers arid Velshers and thieves of all nationalities; and time and again I -havo -had-childron"brought to ino who have been corrupted by the gambling influence and have stolen.small sums of money, watches and other valuablo" articles'from their parents, for tho purposes of gambling. Scores of mothers have also conie to me about their daughters, husbands. about their, wives,' and wives about .'their husbands. I do not pretopd ;: tq say. .that gambling is always tho cause, of • poverty, . any', more, than drink is always the cause of 'poverty; the cause arid effect. ur these cases are often' difficult to distinguish ; nevertheless until we can . re-move-the drink; evil and' the gambling evil we have- very little chance' of ameliorating the ;social condition on which 'insome''cases these depend. ■ • L 1?06, therefore, an -Antibamblmg Committee was 'formed, -of which I-was secretary,. the. object'- being. to .stamp out : gambling so far as it'was possible iriorady ;.ind, legally to do so. ;A circular was sent, oututo - chambers of "commerce? employers ..-.federations,;, trades unions, friendly s'd-. cieties, athletic associations, . Protestant chnrches, and so forth, and from representatives sent by . these bodies we' forriied an Association: Facts were elicited from all quarters to the condition of .lawlessness and gambling that prevailed, and a strenuous agitation ( was . carried, on, and ' for ' many month.s .Mr. Judkins -and 1., held -meetings two pr thred times'a week in the town and country.- Many lawyers were sympathetic with us, and studied up-the Anti-Gambling Laws in.different parts of the British• Empire, and finally, we grouped our requests together.; and 1 out ' of fifty amendments suggosted by a (deputation of over-one 1 thousand people that waited ■ upon the Premier, somo forty-six were ultimately incorporated in the laws of-the land. According to' Mr. Mackay, tho .present Minister, for Lands, Victoria has npw /tho best anti-gambling legislation in tbß whole of the-British Empire. ' "A-'prominent- feature of our work was the opposition to- the totalisator," continued Mr. Woodfull. - " We had the New ! Zealand and the South Australian example before us, and they were'guite enough'to prevent our legalising the totalisator in,'this iu' -®rr wcre - taken several times -in iv .^ < S anc ' , ou ' ; °f sixty-six 'members the highest votd m'favorir of' the totalisator was "fourteen. ■ In South Australia:"particu--lariy it is- not only, the Government'' totes,', but the silent ' totes ' that have to be reo-. Kone.a with;.and three, detectives who were working iii South Australia' on' thisquestion • carnie' to the; conclusion ■ that ■ there was ?„ gre ?w ■ ? I ? I0 . r a gambling -done • through the il.fc' totes' .than.'through' the legal 'to'tesi' N0, r..®. 0^' 1 Wales" and' Queensland had also prohibited, the' publication of "betting odds;jj'w/gumed "by. .their experience?:we have done... the same. All- sorts of dodges. havo been, adopted, 'to 'evade .'the: law, . but "our position -is now so ' strong "that - very 5 little evasion is possible, oven : temporarily,' and permanently it is practically impossible for It to exist at all.

" Another 4>oint jonA-iwhich •we-srhave most f strongly, insisted is the reduction' of tho Dumber of race days: With'; lotteries such as Tattersall's.and'so forth we-ha ve had - a gre'atr>deal. of> trouble!-- : Now:,- 'h'owever, 'it is' lllegal'-here to-sell a'<tick'et,'. to buy' a tiokct, to. givo away a ticket, or to receive a ticket. Tickets cannot bo sent,. .of course, through the post', and anyone' suspected'of receiving or dispatching these is-liable'to-be-put on the : prohibited'list,', so far as' the-Post Office-is concerned. All sorts ofiwild charges have_been made as to interfering with honourable persons' private correspondence,, but, as. : a;matter of fact,-in not.a single case has any suspected letter ..been • wrongly opened by the ; Post Office. Among, those put'on the Jist were H. Oxenham; of Sydney, and'J. \V. Wren, of Melbourne. When Mr. Oxenham was put on the: prohibited list, he immediately wrote giving his guarantee that he would.no longer; carry on_ business as a professional, gambler. Mr. Wren's excuse was - that ■ somebody-else, a Mr. Lenny,' was. using his ~. name;. but -as Mr. Lenny was. known to be. Mr. Wren's secretary, his name has also been put on the prohibited. list. Up to'the present they have not furnished the necessary guarantee to . enable.-their names to- be removed. -;Not being able to gamble by-'post, an at-' tempt.-was .made; to gamble ( through the means of..a local-carrying company, which cpnyeyed-to and from Tasmania whole pack-* ages, of Tattersall's -tickets. The Postmasterfeeneral therefore' called upon this company' to, show cause why all their correspondence of. every description should not be stopped, 'Sinm k r , eßu ' t - I '.they entered into the . ' bond,., and the . manager gave his personal guarantee that no more gambling matter would be'carried. ■■ • v *'.-■■ ... -, -"The,nest consideration," said Mr. WoodlUlJ,; was where to allow gambling at all.' \\e recognised that it- could not be stampedright out.at once, and we wanted to confine < i-°- i ro ®P- ■ bounds, in short",, td a placp _ within the meaning , of. the Act. According-to the law,the.definition used to be that" a place was a ' place ' if a man wn i °, n bo, put up. an umbrella • or • stood on a box, .then it was not a place. . The word, place now is anv place whatsoever, witlnn a. building, or without a : tith nn' i;° n -* P" vnt « ,iand or public land,. T/ith.jno-limitation .or definition as to area whether, on-land or water: Having said/thatno- .gambling was to be allowed on anv place, we[ had'/to exempt one spot,. the racecourse itself during the time races arem progress. Special' enclosures were set apart where, betting: may be adopted l by registered bookmakers, and into these. enclosures no youtfr apparently under the age ot.twenty-one, and no \Voman, can go. "In order.to put down gambling houses, we: have/ a quarantine clause, under which' suspected places are quarantined. The authorities make an application, put their evidence before a judge, and if ho: is-satis-ned that the place is a gambling institution it - is .quarantined. .- Anybody going' iiv-or. , coming away, from, that-place or anvbody toimd on the- premises' can be, arnsstec'i. It is. sufficient to serve, the reputed keeper or owner with a notice; stating that the placo is quarantined, and: if this .notice cannot be served personally, then it can bo affixed' to. tiic promises, and anybody tearin< r down'or n Lnn ch ' notice is " )ia ble ,to a • fine /of' £100..t0.£200. . .: . Haying got the.law, it was necessary to obtain* evidence that. City Tattersall's and other gambling institutions .were rcallv. nolnS. otbor than gambling places within) the' moaning of the. Act: To do. this tho police had to get men in who,. directly they had obtained evidence, made affidavits before Justices of the Poace: I also got some of my church officers to make bets in the 'jtoto'and other places, and then give tlioir affidavits' directly they had obtained the necessary evidence. The result was that as soon' as the Superintendent of the Criminal Investigation > Department made his application the managers tote gave in; niid City Tattersall's, and Wreii's; with its'hundred branchos in different suburbs/is now' » thing of the past."