LAW AND BOOKMAKERS

Greymouth Evening Star, 23 July 1945, Page 2

LAW AND BOOKMAKERS

CHIEF JUSTICE’S COMMENT. WELLINGTON, July 23. In his charge to the Grand Jury, to-day, Chief Justice Myers said that although the calendar did not contain any charges against bookmakers, he thought he should say a few words on the subject. He did not care whether bookmaking was lawful or not, it was the duty of a judge to administer the law. As long as it was an unlawful business, he would carry out the law, and on those occasions when a person had been charged before him with bookmaking, and had been convicted, he had sent him to prison. He always said that if the Courts carried out the spirit of law, and when a person had been convicted and came up again, if he were sentenced to imprisonment, one or other of two things would happen within 12 months. Either the bookmaking would be substantially reduced or there would be some amendment of the law. He did not say that bookmaking should be eliminated altogether, but the law was not to be flouted to anything like the extent it was flouted now. It was not for him to say or suggest how the law should be amended. It had nothing to do with him, but he did say the Courts should do their best to see law was observed, in spirit as well as in letter, arid that they should not, by constantly fining bookmakers, adopt a system .which amounted to nothing more or less than licensing the bookmaker to continue his unlawful trade. MR. W. T. HAZLETT’S VIEWS. INVERCARGILL, July 20. “My opinion is that the only solution is to license the bookmakers on the course, and people can then bet with the bookmakers or on the totalisator as they please,” said Mr. W. T. Hazlett, president of the Southland Racing Club at the annual meeting of the club to-night. “Personally. I do not think the Racing Conference will favour the licensing of bookmakers, and the Government is never likely to aporove of anything but totalisator betting.” Mr. Hazlett said that an attempt had been made to formulate schemes by which people could bet in a pool at the post office or at a booth of some kind. Whether the Government would approve of these schemes was another question. “I do not think it will, no matter what the clubs say,” he added. “The totalisator is an excellent source of revenue for the Government while the bookmakers as they operate at present are required to pay incom’e tax. . It is impossible to stop bookmaking in New Zealand or in any part of the world for that matter. If all the bookmakers were put in gaol there are always two or three more to fill their places.” Referring to the racecourse inspector’s report to the annual conference. Mr. Hazlett said that there was one thing the Southland Racing Club had always done, and that was to keep its course free from so-called undesirables. "I think all the ramps they speak of through undesirables frequenting jockeys’ rooms are no more than racecourse rumours,” he said. “I have not seen them in Southland, so I take it that our courses are free from them;”' Dealing with the subject of leakages of information to illegal operators, Mr. Hazlett said that a number of racecourses were reserves, and it would be impossible for any club to put an undesirable off them even if it wanted to. He thought that manv of the' reports dealing with leakages of information were grossly exaggerated. “I am perfectly satisfied in my own mind that half the talk of racing ramps and betting coups are merely racecourse rumours,” he added. “If a man wins £2OO. it does not travel far before it is £2OOO or £3OOO. At the same time, I think that we should continue with the control we have at our meetings, so that undesirables do not yet a chance to' get into the birdcage or the jockeys’ room. - ’ BOOKMAKERSFINED £760. WELLINGTON. July 23. “This Court has given plenty o! warnings; bookmakers are springing up like mushrooms.” said the Magistrate (Mr. Stout), in the Police Court to-day, when imposing a fine of £lOO on Bert Ambrose Simson, aged 60. the first of six persons who appeared on Gaming Act Citarges. “If that doesn’t stop it I will have to adopt the suggestion of, the Chief Justice and impose imprisonment in the first instance. The thing is scandalous. There arc six up this morning.” The total amount in fines imposed to-day was £760. Five men charged with bookmaking were fined amounts ranging from £lOO to £2OO. A woman charged with knowingly permitting her premises to be used as a common gaming house was fined £lO and other tines were imposed as follow: Edward George. O’Malley Nunns, retired, 50, £150; Robert Watts, dealer. 35, £200; Leslie Archibald Burns, agent, 36, £150; and John Matthew Stobart, hairdresser and tobacconist. 55, £l5O.