STATE LOTTERIES

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23228, 23 December 1938, Page 15

STATE LOTTERIES

Sir, —If "Another Citizen" will look up the meaning of the word gambling ho will find he is confusing it with the word chance. The Oxford Dictionary defines "gamble": "play games of chance for money, tako great risks to secure great results." I can see an element of "chance" in every phase of living. But to say that all life, all business, farming, etc., is gambling is nonsense. The good business man is satisfied with a fair profit and quick return, and he endeavours to minimise the risk: by studying crops, commodities and seasons, and the economic policy of Government. On the Stock Exchange the best stocks, the highest valued, are those that yield a steady income; that fluctuate little in value and are not suitable for gambling. Because chance affects in a varying degree the results of our actions, one is not justified in describing those as gambling; therefore, "Another Citizen" has confused "chance" and "gambling." The successful farmer, too, relies on himselt, not on chance. He fits himself for his work by education and training, works hard, uses good machinery, top-dressing and other modern methods. Ho seeks the best and surest methods to eliminate the element of chance. What would happen if our staple industry were carried on as "a gamblo all the time?" I cannot see any shrewdness in Mr. Parry's suggestion. One writer has shown that a State lottery is a most expensive method of raising money, costing the citizens an enormous amount for expenses of organisation and returning only a small fraction of this amount to the Treasury. Another shows that the Irish Free State "has become a sordid gambling den." owing to enormous impetus given to gambling by the hospital sweeps. Moreover, to punish gambling as a crime and at the same time to legalise it for State purposes brings the law into contempt. Is it surprising we see periodic raids on gamblers? This policy of a State lottery, if carried out, would raise much antagonism to the Government. Ist Citizen.