EUCHRE PARTIES

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXIV, 19 June 1931, Page 9

EUCHRE PARTIES

LEGALISATION OR ABOLITION MINISTER ASKED FOR DECISION A request to the Minister for Education (the Hon. H. Atmorc) that lie should either legalise euchre tournaments at once or order their complete discontinuance was made by Mr D. C. McDonald at a meeting of the Canterbury Schools’ Association, which the Minister attended (reports the “Press”). “I want to ask a question about euchre parlies in schools,” began Mr McDonald. “That is the great question of the day. If the school children are under the care of the Minister, I take it that committees are also his servants, although very honorary ones. Those committees are holding euchre tournaments which are illegal. If they are held in schools, the schools become public buildings in competition with other public buildings, and just as much liable to become' gaming houses.

A BAD EXAMPLE “The children are now sufficiently well educated to know that euchre is illegal. They know that money is being gained by these illegal measures. The teachers spend their time trying to instill into the children the principles of law-abiding citizenship, yet the commit tee show them that there is no harm in doing something illegal as long as one is not found out.” . MY McDonald asked the Minister either to legalise the tournaments or to abolish them. , The chairman (Mr J. G. Brown): J take it that you mean that if a School Committee were sued Mr Atmorc would ho added to the 'guilty parties.

IT DEPENDS WHAT YOU DO”

Mr Atmorc: T have yet to learn that euchre is illegal. It depends what you do with the euchre. Mr Brown: We have to get a lot. of money for the schools. Mr Atmorc: I don’t know that there is any great harm in what the committees do. From what I know of them X am prepared to trust them to do the right thing. There was loud applause. .Mr McDonald quoted a recent statement bv the Minister for Justice (the Hon J. G. Cobbc) that the tournaments were illegal. “What do you say to that?” ho asked. , . Mr Atmorc: Well, 1 think you had an answer from my colleague without asking me.