THE IRREPRESSIBLE BOOKIE.

Free Lance, Volume X, Issue 500, 29 January 1910, Page 6

THE IRREPRESSIBLE BOOKIE.

A Premium on Laziness, ' M VERY large section. of the public- : is breathing " out its content just now because the days of the pony races- in New Zealand arenumbered. The pony races are to. be : knowni no more after the lakt day of March, and a great many of the public appear to> think .'that all the vices incidental to horse-racing' will go> out with the pony race, meetings. It is becoming more and more apparent, however, that the iniquitous evils associated with the turf in New Zealand' will only .'be wiped out when. . Parliament undoes the mischief it wrought' wheal it legalised the bookmaker qnd thus set a premium upon, laziness and sharp practice. Since the passing of that regrettable Act this Dominion has become the dumping ground of such a horde of wasters and unprincipled layers of odd® from Australia that the public are groaning for relief from the heavy affliction. The late Commissioner •of Police, in his 1 recent annual report, made the definite stateme&t that the increase in certain phases of - crime in • the Dominion during the past, year was due to the influx of undesirables from Australia since the Gaming Act came into operation. .-The racecourse detective, Mr. James Walden, - than whom no one is more qualified to- speak on this subject, recently declared that he has never, in all the years o-f Tvw> official career, been so busy keeping his eye on designing rogues than, he is at present. ' ' » * • ; At Chriistehurch on Tuesday last several bookmakers were charged with street betting, and betting with . isntfants hai3 been charged against bookmaker® recently in several parts of the Dominion. In fact, it is very clearthat the turf in New Zealand justnow is over-run with a class of bookmaker who will stop short of nothing in his desire to get the best of everyone and anyone who> comes within reach of Mm. •■ « o The numbers of these useless and absolutely • unproductive members- of the community are continually being augmented by fresh arrivals, who only have to pay certain license fee and commence operations. Racing clubs- who desire to conduct their •meetings fairly, squarely, and aboveboard, are themselves quite helpless in remedying this evil, for Parliament hats fastened the nuisance upon the race track. It seems as if New Zealand is recognised as the happy hunting ground of the racecourse "crook 5 * and spieler, and, as we have got a race meeting somewhere or other in the Dominion- erery day in the week and every week in the year, the spieler is right in clover. O «- * Fining, or even goaling, bookmakers for betting with infants, or laying odds in the streets, won't do. They don't mind it, and continue to fatten on the gullibility of others. The bookmaker must go. The sooner Parliament repeals its Act licensing the bookie the better it will be for the community as a whole. G-ive him the option of working for an honest living—if he will. Work isn't in hia line, anyhow. And if he won't live honourably, we must see to it that he leaves the Dominion of New Zealand.