MONOPOLY OF BETTING.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19321, 7 May 1926, Page 14

MONOPOLY OF BETTING.

STATE AND TOTALISATOR. EXCLUSION OF BOOKMAKERS. COMMENT BY JUDGE SIM. [BY TELEGRAPH. —OWN CORRESPONDENT.] DUNEDIN, Thursday. In his address to the jury in t'>o Supreme Court to-day at the conclusion of the heaving of a charge against Walter Goodman of being a bookmaker, Mr. Justice Sim said that- in considering their verdict the jury must put on one side any opinion they might have regarding the legislation dealing with bookmaking. They might consider it a piece of hypocrisy to pass the Act of 1020 in view of the fact tliMt the State itself had a largo betting machine from which it derived a huge income every year, or they might think also that the Act had been passed not so much for the purpose of benefiting the community by reducing the amount of betting, but simply for the purpose of effecting the monopoly which the totulisator was said to enjoy in betting, and which as a matter of fact everybody know it did enjoy. "it is somewhat hypocritical that the Legislature said to tho people of the Dominion, 'You may bet as long as you please as long as you bet through the totalisator, of which the State has a part, but if you dare to make a bet, even to the extent of half a crown, with j n bookmaker you are liable to a fine ui £IOO or to imprisonment for six months.' As lie had said, continued His Honor, thev might have their own views on this legislation, but they must not let that influence them. 1 hey must take the law as they found it.

Goodman was found guilty and wa remanded for sentence.