CARDS AND GAMING.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXV, Issue 20028, 18 August 1928, Page 10

CARDS AND GAMING.

PROSECUTIONS BY POLICE. REASONABLE VIEW URGED. OVERLOOKING TRIVIAL ACTS. HINT FROM ATTORNEY-GENERAL. [BY TELEGRAPH. —SPECIAL REPORTER.] WELLINGTON. Friday. A hint to the police that they should refrain from prosecuting the conductors of card tournaments where the breach of the Gaming Act was not of a serious nature, and where no harm had been done, was given by the Attorney-General, Hon. F. J. Rolleston, in the House if Representatives to-day. The question was raised by the Leader of the Upposition, Mr. 11. E. Holland, in regard to the recent tournaments held at Westport to raise funds for a friendly society lodge and for educational purposes. He asked the Minister if it would be possible to make an alteration in the law to place card tournaments on the same footing as art unions, or if the Minister could make a statement similar to that made by the Home Secretary, Sir Joynson Hicks, in connection with whist drives in Great Britain.

The Minister said the question was a difficult one. He knew that in a number of cases the card parties were more or less harmless and conducted for charitable purposes and not for private profit. On the other hand, there were parties that were conducted almost as a business for private gain. The difficulty was that the elements which constituted a breach of the Gaming Act were present in both classes of parties. Use ol Wise Discretion. Mr. T. M. Wilford (Hutt): There is a section in the Justices of the Peace Act which entitles the magistrate to dismiss a case on the grounds thfc it is trivial. The Minister said ho was aware of that provision, but it had not been invoked in these cases. He had read the remarks of the Home Secretary, who had stated that, in his opinion, where a breach of the law was harmless and little mischief was being done, the police should abstain from prosecuting. "I have considered those remarks very carefully," said Mr. Rolleston, "but I hesitate to make a similar statement or to go so far as the Home Secretary has gone. It might be said the Minister had taken upon himself to say which laws of the country should be enforced and which should not. In the administration of our laws it is desirable that a wise discretion should be exercised by the police and that there should not be anything in the nature of oppression by the police in what is only a technical breach of the law." Difficulty of Changing Law.

Mr. Wilford: Why not say subject to the approval of the Attorney-General. The Minister: Generally speaking the administration of the laws should be benevolent -without any desire to act harshly. The police are being pulled both ways. There are those who say they should prosecute in these cases and those who say they should not. I think if I state the law should be administered reasonably and not oppressively in cases where no harm is being done that is as far as I can go." The Minister said he had given very serious consideration to the question of amending the law to cover card tournaments, but no amendment had been found that might not lead to greater mischief. He was prepared to consider an amendment, and if any member could suggest a suitable one he would be glad to receive it.