A LOSING ISSUE

Evening Post, Volume CVIII, Issue 99, 23 October 1924, Page 6

A LOSING ISSUE

"Do.honourable members realise what that means?" asked the Prime Minister "in; the House of Representatives yesterday, when Mr.' V. H. ; Potter (Roskill) suggested that the' Gaming ' Bill!should be.held over until the next session of Parliament. , In'all probability, he said,' there ■would be a T General Election \ next year -^— .;. .• . ... : . .. A Labour member :. "Hear, hear." ——and if. the measure were held over and made one of the principal items ' of the election; all other ■ issues would be obscured. He could not forget what happened at the last General Election, and he would'■-never forget that there was-^a great deal of feeling stirred iip" over the discussion on the Ga,ming Bill and.over the Racing Commission. The \ result-was. that, at least half a dozen of the best'men who ever sat in the House ■lost..their seats .over it. . He knew:that as a" positive fact...' He did not want t6 see anything like that occur again. Mr.'J. > M'Combs ■ (Lyttelton) :. ."The. Labo.ur/^P.aftyAdidh'tylgse'iiny'seats." . " "NoV they "did'not;" admitted the Prime. Minister.-■< "They came; in as a third party. .; They were not in the tTouble. It will be their turn next time.-".-: •■'■ ■■ ■ ■-•-■ ■. . • Mr;.-Masßey aaid .he was not at all . proud "of 'the amount cf money that ■was collected ' \ y tne Government from the totali'sator. Last year, and for seyefal'.yeafs".'past,l,','it" a'itiouht'ed'"" to • £600,000. ■'■.'■• ••' •' Mr. Potter : "It is not enough; You are collecting less off the totalisator than ;any other country." ■' : • ,Mr. Massey said he did not know about that, .but he simply stated the broad fact "that; the racing revenue fo£6oo?<XJ0 eaTS PaSt'h3d b'ien more-than