The Marlborough Express. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 1909. THE GAMBLING EVIL.

Marlborough Express, Volume XLIII, Issue 222, 16 September 1909, Page 4

The Marlborough Express. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 1909. THE GAMBLING EVIL.

We 'are familiar enough with the gambling evil in New Zealand. It is tolerated everywhere, in the club, and the ; home; on the street and the sports' field. The law says it must be put down, but Ministers of the Crown patronise it, and make speeches in extenuation of it at gamblers' clubs. The law is vindicated by running-in an occasional Chinaman for playing pak-a-poo in his 'own home, but public betting continues unabated amongst "the foreign devils," under Ministerial cognisance, and, as a ■natural result, police *■ connivance. While things are,in this happy casein New Zealand, it is instructive to turn to the experience of another country, where the State legalises gambling. The accounts of the Italian State lottery for last year have just been published, and form the subject of an instructive article in the London Times. The figures show the extent of the evil, as well as its ramifications. There is an increase of receipts to the amount of £120,000,- or a total of £3,----336,000 of gross receipts in th© year. Of these gross receipts £1,600,000 went back to the players in the form of prizes, and a profit of £1,736,000 remains to the State after the deduction for expenditure. This is the highest figure that the "Lotto!' has yet reached in a year, and more than one newspaper .seems to experience searchings of conscience over an increase of" revenue from such a quarter. Certainly, a comparison of the local statistics of the "Lotto" with other figures yields a curious result. One need hardly say, to begin with, that the great majority of the "Lotto" players'; are in the; south of Italy. The curve of average Lotto play seems to follow roughly the curve of illiteracy. It would seem, too, that the great supporters of the Lotto are the poorest of the poor. More than half of the tickets sold, are for sums below fivepence. Tickets of over half a crown hardly account ofr one-tenth of the receipts. The Stampa of Turin laments the fact that the State should derive such profit from the most poor and ignorant of the populace. It can at least be urged in extenuation that the case is hardly serious, since the same populace which gambles away £3,336,000 in the year puts £56,000,000 into the savings banks during the same period. It would be more to the point to complain that the State should play with such unfair chances in its favour. <, A lottery arranged on a scale that leaves it an almost certain winner of half the money played does not seem particularly just; and that, during the last five years, has been the position of the Lotto in Italy. One thing is certain—namely, that the poorer and more ignorant population will gamble in some way or other, and that if the State will not give them an opportunity of tempting fortune they will find opportunities for themselves elsewhere. As it is, the suppression of illegal and often most iniquitous lotteries is a constant source of trouble, especially in Naples. But in New Zealand we take no trouble about it. We simply pass a law against it, and then calmly wink at constant breaches of that law, except where the unfortunate alien is concerned. He, poor devil, must always furnish the vicarious offering for the sin of the community,