THE RING AND THE TOTALISATOR.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 3070, 29 April 1881, Page 3

THE RING AND THE TOTALISATOR.

Referring to the attempt to stop the use of the totalisator ab the Christchurch, races, the Auckland Star says.—" Tho whole affair is perfectly ludicrous, and we are only surprised that the owners of the totalisator, instead of succumbing to a piece of' cheeky' bounce, did not promptly quote to Mr Stringer's clients his own law, which classes bookmaking as . vagrancy equally ,wit]i lotteries and other forms of gambling. It will at once occur to the public, however, and we hope also to the authorities, that this necessity for purifying the atmosphere of the racecourse, which is testified to out of the months of such men as Drake, called for more drastic measures than the suppression of totalisators, and sweepstakes, and other kinds of lotteries. To the betting of bookmakers, particularly 'P.P.' betting —staking some time before the event, irrespective of whether the horse will be scratched—may be attributed three-fourths Of the villainies of the turf. It has come to be a recognised thing with respect to certain horses that the question, whether they will win depends more upon the balance of ' P.P.' betting than upon the merits of the animals. Horses have been scratched in a most shameless manner to serve the purposes of the ring, and 'pigeons' plucked unmercifully withoutredress. Nothing of this can be charged either On sweeps or the totalisator. When the bookmakers threaten to set the law in motion against gambling, therefore, they venture on. delicate ground. They give the authorities a seasonable reminder that there are such laws, and that in amending them, as it is proposed to do, care must be taken not to play into the hands of Drake, Snider and Col by suppressing minor ventures—winch in | themselves are perfectly fair—while leading the .chief evil untouched. We belieye that a law of extreme severity should be passed to put down 'P.P.'betting in every shape, and punish as vagrants those who practice it. Until that is done it is perfectly futile to look for anything like honesty on the turf, and the enforcement of tae law against lotteries is worse than a farce. It is to bo hoped that the AttorneyGeneral will make a note, of _ the . book: makers' objection to the totalisator. v An instrument in suoh high disfavor with, tho ' ring,' oannot be a very bad thing for tho pqblic." Letters have been forwarded to the two racing clubs in Adelaide, signed by owners of horses and bookmakers in Melbourne, stating that they will not run their horses nor bet on Adelaide racing meetings where the totalisator is used. This looks very much as if the bookmakers are at least beginning to soo;thafc tho .totalisator is .bound to kill them in time.