POST OFFICE AND SWEEP

Greymouth Evening Star, 14 January 1933, Page 5

POST OFFICE AND SWEEP

100,000 LETTERS OPENED. LONDON, December 2. Intervention by the Post Office is ineffective to check the arrival of letters in this country concerned with lotteries and the Irish Sweepstakes. This admission was made yesteraay by Sir Evelyn Murray, Secretary of the General Post Office. Nevertheless he was able to inform the Royal Commission on Betting of the results of intervention on a considerable scale. Some of the figures he gave were: 250,000 letters Containing advertisements and circulars relating to foreign State lotteries were detained last year, and 100,000 letters with circulars relating to the Irish Hospitals draw. £123,756 was found in letters opened and returned to the senders in connection with the Irish Sweepstakes.

“It will be apparent,” said Sir Evelyn, “that an enormous amount of work is involved in the stoppage of a minute proportion of the contribu-

tions from this country to the sweepstakes and that the intervention of the Post Office is quite ineffective. “The decline discernible in the number of letters stopped is probably an indication that the check upon lotteries imposed through the agency of the Post Office has merely resulted in the divergence of subscribers to other channels.”

The Post Office records did not substantiate the suggestion that dishonesty among postal servants was on the increase. The annual number of dismissals for dishonesty was at present about 500, representing 'about 2 per 1,000 of the total Post Office staff. That figure was substantially greater than in pre-war years, but the increase was probably mainly attributable to the introduction of currency notes and to the habit of the public of sending them through the post in unregistered letters.

“In view of the special temptations to which Post Office servants are subject in the matter of betting and gambling,” added Sir Evelyn, “stringent rules on the subject have been enforced in the Post Office for a great number of years.” STAMPS BOUGHT BACK. Sir Evelyn declared that the Post Office had repurchased from the Sunday newspapers stamps to the value of £201,600 from February to June, 1931, and £622,100 from July, 1931, to June, 1932. These were stamps which had been received by the newspapers in connection with their competitions. Sir Sidney Rowlatt: I never knew before that the Post Office repurchased' stamps. It was estimated that orders to the value of about £2,300,000, for sums ranging from sixpence to half-a-crown, were used in connection with competitions for the year 1930-31, representing an increase of about 20 per cent.

The corresponding figures for orders used in connection with Irish sweepstakes were £1,200,000 for 1931-32, as against £721,500'f0r 1930-31, representing an increase of 68 per cent. “It thus appears that through the machinery of the Post Office some £3,000,000 was paid in respect of entries to newspaper competitions during 1931-32, and if the Irish swepstakes are included, well over £4,000,000.” Evidence was submitted on behalf of the Scottish Eootball Association by Mr Robert Campbell, president of the association, who was accompanied by other officials. They strongly disapproved of any connection between football and betting. “Several cases are known,” said Mi’ Campbell, “where efforts have been made to bribe players to lose games in order to assist the organisers of football coupons.” The association, said Mr Campbell, viewed with grave alarm the introduction of greyhound racing on football grounds. “We earnestly hope.” he said, “that some definite action will be recommended by the Commission which will have the effect of limiting the application of the totalisator. We ask the Commission to recommend that it be made illegal for betting of any description to take place on any enclosed football ground. “We do not fear the competition of greyhound racing,” he added, “but we are convinced that the association of the two is a menace to the purity and standing of the game.”

NO BETS ON FOOTBALL. Sir Frederick Wall gave evidence on behalf of the Football Association, of which he is secretary. He explained the rules which had been made ro preserve the game from the influence of any gambling. “During the last thirty years we have had but three cases brought to our notice that players had allowed themselves to become the tools of bookmakers,” said' Six* Frederick. “We believe that our rules and decisions are very loyally observed by our members, and that there is no open or organised betting taking place on the grounds of some 40,000 clubs which are under our jurisdiction. “We also believe that the continued support, of the public very largely depends upon the game being kept free from betting.” Sir Sydney Skinner: Is there any serious manipulation among players to achieve a. certain result?

Sir Frederick: I say emphatically that it never occurs. Mr E. Robbins, secretary of the Football Association of Wales, also regarded greyhound racing as a serious menace to football and’ other games.

Sir James Leisliman: We hear that a, large amount of Welsh money goes to Scotland for coupon betting. Mr Robbins: Well, I should think that Glasgow is the greatest betting centre in the world. There are more bookmakers in Glasgow, too, than in any other town in the world.

Sir James Leisliman: It is a bigger city than some. (Laughter).