THE TOTALISATOR.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1263, 19 October 1911, Page 5

THE TOTALISATOR.

NEW SOUTH WALES BILL. By Telegraph—Press Association— Copyright Sydney, October 18. In tho Legislative Assembly yesterday Mr. R. ]I. Levicn, member for 'lamworth, moved the second reading of the Totalisator Bill. He referred to instances where horses had boon "dead" through the influence of the bookmaking eloincnt. lie had interviewed leading New Zealand sportsmen, and all favoured the totalisator. The Australian .lockey Club had received .£OIOO alinually from tho bookmakers, and altogether tho public had had to find .£200,000 odd a year for the bookmakers. The Bill proposes that the Government shall receive 5 per cent from tho totalisator receipts. Mr. Lerien estimated that ,£6,000,000 would pass through t'ho machine annually He said he was prepared to accept an amendment to tho effect that women bo not allowed to bet. The Premier, Mr. M'Gowen, said the Bill was outside party politics. Personally, he opposed it, because t'hey had no right to throw the temptation to gamble in the way of tho people. Mr. Lerien: Then shut tho racecourse. Mr. M'Gowcn said he had been informed that New Zealand factories, where women and girls were employed regularly, were visited by the agents of the tote. Mr. Loviou: The person who furnished that report is a liar. The debato was adjourned. PRESS COMMENT. Sydney, October 18. Tho "Sydney Morning Herald," in supporting the Totalisator Bill, states that if fraud and chicanery, which are now regularly practised on racecourses, were swept away, gambling wxrald bo cleared of most of its evil. Tho "Daily Telegraph" says that it is not a matter of legalising gambling, which is already legalised, and adds that the opponents of tho machine, while condemning tho totalisator, always neglect to point out the merits of , tho bookmaker.