THE TOTALISATOR.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIX, Issue 15141, 4 November 1912, Page 9

THE TOTALISATOR.

ITS EFFECT ON SPORT.

In .an address in Sydney, Mr. A. Bruntnell. M.L.C., who was formerly a Salvation Army officer, said that 75 per cent, of the evidence taken in New Zealand by the TotaSsator Commission, of which he was a member, was against the bookmaker. The racing clubs there had reaped a great benefit from the percentage duty derived from the totalisator, and had been able to lay out their grounds in a most attractive manner. One feature which struck him was the fact that many people, while taking but little interest in the real sport, clustered around the totalisator. Ho had his doubts about' the machine purifying the sport while it had not eliminated the bookmaker altogether, for the latter still did a, large business, notwithstanding that the law prevented him from going on the course. To him it seemed that the- real danger was that the totalisator would draw into its toils the individual who would not dream of betting with the bookmaker. The whole thing resolved itself into tho ■question, "Ought the nation to encourage gambling?" His view of the matter was that the mania for betting, which had seized so many to-day, should bo discouraged in every possible way. The Commission had found that the antipathy against the bookmaker was mostly duo to the action of those who wanted the " tote" ' introduced in the interest* of the race clubs. The commission did not, however, find a single witness out of the 150 examined who championed gambling. There was no doubt- that the fascination of the " tote " had increased the volume of. betting amongst all classes in the Dominion