“FESTERING SORE”

Dominion, Volume 16, Issue 156, 20 March 1923, Page 9

“FESTERING SORE”

THE GAME OF PAKAPOO CHINAMAN FINED £l5O .That the only means of preventing Chinese from carrying on the game of pakapoo, which has continued to flourish in spite of the recent convictions, is the imposition of the maximum fine, was the belief expressed, by Chief Dcr tective Kemp in the Magistrate s Court yesterday when a middl*-aged fruiteiei named Low Knm stepped into the dock to answer charges of using premises at 55 Haining Street as a common gaming house and unlawfully selling tickets which gave the purchaser an interest in a scheme in which, money prizes were gained by chance. The accused, who was represented by Mr. C. A. L. Treadwell, pleaded guilty. Chief Detective Kemp stated. that he would withdraw the first information and proceed with the second, as tho former made provision for a fine of only £lOO, while the" latter set. the maximum at'£2oo. “I find.” continued Mr. Kemp, ‘‘that the £lOO penalty is not adequate. In spite of the convictions, the game is still nourishing, and the only way to stop "it is to impose a severe penalty. It is needless to tell Your Worship the evil influence Uhat pakapoo exercises as far as Europeans are concerned. Tho Chinese find it so lucrative.” .The Magistrate (Mr. F. K Hunt, S.M.): The man who runs the bank is the one who gets it. Mr. Treadwell contended that the ‘'small” man was always caught. Chief Detective Kemp: It may bo that we are catching? the flies, instead of the spiders, but in any case little fish are always sweet. On the ninth there were ten men at this place, three on the thirteenth, eleven on the fifteenth, and four on the sixteenth, the day of tho raid. ' i Mr. Treadwell asserted the Eurov pilaus were as bad as the Chinaman in the case before the Court. His Worship: I know that if the man goes to gaol the bank will pay his wages while he is there. . . . We must put a stop to it- . . . Pakapoo is a festering sore in tho community. 111 fine him £150; I've given him credit for fifty. •The alternative was fixed at three months’ imprisonment.