The Dominion. FRIDAY, JULY 23, 1969. BOOKMAKERS AND THE LAW.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 567, 23 July 1909, Page 4

The Dominion. FRIDAY, JULY 23, 1969. BOOKMAKERS AND THE LAW.

..' -Public'■ attention is' again;;directed'. by the Racing Conference to the scandalous Jaw 1 under which the .racing' clubs.>•■ are obliged.' to ; : afford bookmakers : facilities for betting on the racecourses. Most'people' are .familiar .with the perfectly ' obvious reasons why such, an enactment must be considered'a blot -upon the .-Statute-' book,' and; a -reproach, to the,decency of the; community; We believe that there is not'ono'newspaper in Now Zealand which has not condemned the offensive clause of the Gaming; Act; there is not one person in a hundred who. is.,not convinced : that the clause is vicious, and discreditable to Parliament.. Thero ;were ; probably : not more than a dozen members of. the last Parliament: really! in favour of the clause/. How, then, with' a public opinion almost perfectly- solid against /the licensing of -bookmakers, has that clause ,contrivedto remain on tho Statute-book? Why is it that the Government refuses to •remove the blot upon the Act—a blot the .oi which has, never been ; defended by' an argument that- is not too contemptible.: to deserve a moment's at: Mention? We do not know. Nobody seems to know. Yet, as the Government cannot be acting in a spirit of simple wantonness, there .must be some reason.which is * not made public. The amazing thing is that the granting of; a .privileged status to'bookmakers is contained in an Act brought forward to restrict and regulate gambling on horse-races. It is hardly less . amazing v that this pernicious clause, which has encouraged roguery as well as gambling, has had for its r chief defender ; the Minister for Justice—the Minister who is:planning for the reduction, of ' crime, and who a night or two ago delivered a touching address upon the necessity for aiming at "the betterment of society as an organic whole." ' ,

The President of the Conference told us nothing that we did not know already when he said that Clause 35 of the Act has brought into renewed existence abuses which the racing clubs had- earnestly striven to suppress.: But it should surely be a sufficiently strong condemnation, of the clause that it formally recognised the trade. Of ithe professional gambler as one deserving of encouragement by the State. But the time has come when something definite must.be done. The case for simple repeal is absolutely unanswerable, and everything is tending in the direction of making repeal quite unavoidable. The Conference has taken steps to. allow of a test case being brought to determine whether a club can refuse to . issue a license to a bookmaker who has plied his calling at an unregistered meeting. There appears to be no doubt whatever that no Club has the right to refuse a license on Such a ground. /The only ground on which; an application for. a license may be refused is had character' irt the applicant, and as the President pointed out it is quite impossible for racing clubs to undertake the .obligations

that go hand-iii-band with Uio exorcise of Uiih power of refusal, Wo cannot mo what tho olulw can posnlbly (('".in by bringing ft toa(> emu. Tim offended appli< cant would taoroly .ink the Minister for Internal Affairs to rofuwj ft l.otalisator permit to tho club concerned, and tho viow that tho Government will lake was placed beyond doubt by Dit. I'iniiWY in receiving a deputation of liookinaltora on Decorator 3, 1007. Ho said i, , '

"For the future one of t.lu> conditions will lw (wmpliimc<! by the cltdi with HccLion' flO of Clio Art, of }|)07-llnil jk, that If a club-ro-fiiscs lo Mirry out Section 'AH, tlion, .iimjw the authority \vli'i«fi is «ivcn to inp an Minister in rfiaret, tli<- licenw) to such a club to lino the totalisatnr will not be issued," Ho said, moroovor, that the name ponalty will bo inflicted on clubs which "net themselves to bvado" Olauno 36, and ''to roduco tho right tho Government intended to givo tho bookmakers to an absurdity." And when the clubs faithfully obeyed the law, much as'they objected to it, and tho / abuses 'which Clauso 35 created became' too patent to bo overlooked, Dr. Findlay actually .blamed the racing clubs for not exercising "proper caroand discretion'.' in choosing whom thoy'would liconso! ( Tho correct attitudo for tho clubs was well put by Sib Georob Cmffoiid, the Prcsidonfc of tho Conferonce, yesterday:

If it pleases tho Legislature to invito tho publio to choose between the "trade customa" of the bookmaker and tho silent honesty of the tot&lisator,' wo can. at Joasfc resent tho infliction upon us of tho invidious duty of selection, among '■. applicants for licenses. No commit/too of a. racing club, however zealous, 1 could adequately perform this task, so as to protect the putlic. 'The reform or purification from suspicion of any profession can only be effectively organised within its 1 mombership. If wo roust-have licensed, traders in the odds, they should guaTd their own honour, and prove their integrity to the world. Lot thein form Associatoons, whoso badges may beiregarded as an indication of .careful, selection and trust-: worthiness. Tie business of men unworthy in tie estimation of their fellows, to obtain the badge would quickly, dwindle, and we should hoar no more of, licenses stolon from racing ckbs by the assumption of false names and;similar'; devices. In practice, the turf authorities • oannot satisfactorily regulate bookraaking, and so .far its' professors have been inactive Aa'that'direction, and therefore presumably, unwilling. Wo say to them frankly that wo do not welcome them as accessories, but that, wo emphatically call upon them for- their credit and our (comfort to take measures for the..effective of, such black sheep as conspicuously .discredit, bhem. ■ '■••■'.■:■'.'

That would seem to; be a very good plan, Tho Government might accept exclusion from membership of a Bookmakers'; Association as a sufficient sanction for'exclusion by the clubs from the enjoyment of a license.; But that is not certain, and it is doubtful -whether- the.'clubs would caro to exclude non-unionist bookmakers. Moreover, it is quite opposed to the principles of government that' the authorities, in carrying out the law, should give'any; recognition to the /diplomas and'' excom-. muhications of' an Association which has no' recognition, in the Statutes; :This points to a sort:of way but of tho difficulty, in the shape of legislation providing for the: incorporation of a Bookmakers' Association with pqwqrs, like; the Medical Association or,'tho Law Society or the trades-unions; ;But we do not think that even 'the 'Government 'would'contemplate such ; an; ;out-, rageous course. That-it is the only way out ;makes repeal' unavoidable,, and the, ;sonnor the repeal comes ; the better. ' '.",'.