TATTERSALL'S SWEEP

Evening Post, Volume CX, Issue 148, 20 December 1930, Page 9

TATTERSALL'S SWEEP

A NEW ZEALAND MOVE KEEPING MONEY IN COUNTRY (By Telegraph.) (Special to "The Evening Post.") AUCKLAND, This Day. A society known as the New Zealand Tattersall's Sweep Club has recently been incorporated, its purpose being to petition Parliament asking that a referendum should bo taken on tho question of holding lotteries on the lines of Tattersall's of Tasmania. A national campaign for members has been launched, Mr. Vivian H. Potter being the New Zealand organiser. pis-cussing the matter, Mr. Potter said it was common knowledge tKat a. huge sum was annually sent out of Now Zealand for lotteries, including Tattersall's of Tasmania, the Golden Casket of Queensland, tlio Calcutta Sweep, and others held in tho Argon? tine, France, Spain, and Ireland. The object of tho club was to submit to the people a lottery proposal, and so give them a chance of saying whctliei this huge drain upon the financial resources of New Zealand should ccin'tinue. The motto of the club was: "What you cannot prohibit you must control." No means had so far boon devised of preventing New Zealand money from going to overseas lotteries, said Mr. Potter, and if the drain could not be stopped it would be infinitely better to run lotteries in the country, and so keep the money here. Many nongamblers prominent in business had expressed their support df the scheme on this ground. Mr. Potter said he had ascertained that in this city a . group of seven agents of Tattersall's sent away a total of over £.300 a week, and he had reason to believe that' an agent in Sydney received by post from individual Now Zealanders no less than £.400 a week. These facts indicated the volume of business done in this country, in which thoro were hundreds of agents, and many thousands of people who sent their money direct to Australian agents. It w;is probable that a sweepstake on tho lines of Tattersall's would return to the Government £200,000 a year if tho Tasmanian rate of tax wore imposed, but, more important still, would bo the retention in the country of all tho money involved. From tho Tosult of the club's canvass to date, he said there appeared to bo every likelihood of a very largo membership being built up to give strength to tho request for a referendum.