SANCTONING THE SCALER.

NZ Truth, Issue 182, 12 December 1908, Page 4

SANCTONING THE SCALER.

When th New. Zealand gambling ie°isB lation wa! passed last year, the tacing , Clubs thrqghout New Zealand imifledi lately shoed a great concern about the , totalisatolwhich.it was thought would [._ not long jirvive the opposition of the ; bookmakel During the first few months '. after the Vet came intq operation . the , to talisatoi returns were' not seriously ' , affected, h fact, many of the clubs, by ( me.ns , of, lie totalisator. revenue and ■•' . bookmaker^ fees, combined, made largfcr ' profits tha they had done m the prey- l> . lousseasoi and thus many of the rae- ! . ing oflicialicommenced to take a calmer ' t view of tl- situation and to imagine . , that, afterjll, the licensing of the book- ' L maker was a bhssing rather than a . , curse. Ne, .however, the position has i , realy becce alarming, ihe bookmaker . is slowly it surely gaining ground, and . if the racg 'authorities do not bestir . themselves he totalisator, which is alt ready tottng,- will certainly tall be-' . lore the 'position. It was to supf press the pid growth of gambling, to „ dimmish, ipossible, its volume and to , cnirely erijeate the pernicious [.ractice 5 of town tjting that the Gaming Act i was passedputit has signally failed m , all its obj 65. The Jown belting is pro- » haily m a bre flourishing condition now . thcin it ha^vei. l ie en before. True, the j • tote shops Ye' been wiped out, "but \yhat , »s that? erely so much less rent for < ■ the bookmar to pay. Let no one imagine thatie tote bettor, is a thing 'ii the pa^for he still Mocks the - thoroucbf r< n the rity Greets. Var io.is reasonfaave been: put forward as ; to v.hy. tle>e of the law winks at the ■ town trade] the •Tommies.' v Some allege that . c txovennnent was. anxious ' to , lp *. r ?? t^ wst "rfil -.after the general electn mnd others contend that it ; is because m' ers of l he Legislature and > MiiS'ers of^c Urown occasi naliy patronise the hikers tha^^ are not I inlefe^ed wl; ' but it is pro a«lv because oftenc^against the Gaming Act ; do not ■'pernjofthe ofienHers going be- ! F .°re a jt the police hive A not been ' '-'rged 1o se^ convictions for fear of nrousmg pub feeling. Town citing ; however, is to be, fully dealt with > ■ h re.- Sutficei to- say that it s'ill"ex■sts m its mi object on, „.la form sire! D-.'tli%. Iv to Ihe shim. age m th, ' 'ofcahsator m s at tlie various me^t- ■■ . n . s , m the tth.lsliind>that "Tiuta'-' wishes to rel j n referfng^erlitofialK to the triattjn.st Monday, the Carterton ''Daily ls» <he 'shrink-. ; ac, r.rs ; tly, ''the stringfoicy of Ihe inoneiv inar.Keecondly, to the non-pu'b-'lcatirn oHtaii . a f f <lhi< eiids. „n_l. ! Mnrdly, to teoah.incc of the book-" makers.- TMurnal m question si ve< . voice to the : 'eral opinion that nanHi-l .n» l^as m i wise decreased, anil ,1 hnunh it ovpK s go me points iff the question,, the .owing extract from its. J remarks are thy of note:— | Wh n mpnts more plentiful it will I he, found th{,he anta-gami.ling letis • lation, so *»>. it amities to race-' courses, has* the effect of increas- ! mv the evil-t cam.bt be otherwise: lire machine, bad enough , n its silent but lnsii; attraction ; but it isthe boolmaibtisinss to peisuade people to bat:ey have to make then iee.se fes iihw profits out of tlie -pm.'lic. iy injure the machineeturns, mil r eneraetic eliorts certainly ma^-e gambling even more o.ni^rs^n it ever, was., A very sericulture of Ihis increase >n -gamtilmg is .fact that every crbih convicted or otise, mi n the country is lossonung mt. ,l;ookmaiitr, and m . ome instances, j,ng-ot a status by the^ Law, is hing thlerably honest • m ,his dealints. i- bettors «m ihe ra ecourse. Al ho^ne occasionally . hears t mooted ihatjiooKmaers are not, c!)ndu..-iin- a pti,i e -ousiness on the" • racecourse, Uheifaber go on increas- 1 me at an asto% rat*, and M,e fact i .hat- some. 'pf th B t -la of the - PlOriO m license; duH., s \he p^t 12 I oionl lis «s cvid i; ,..;, lt lhl . Ifs ls !_ iucra _ -| ne ii' el hood. ; could ; undeistann bookmakers who . -, e en ieside»t for some years m thj„ta-v. mat-n- a livn. ...nib. nacecdin spi t e 0 f the £20 i a day fee hut .^„ y, cl -..0,s an" ! ut-throats fro m p om , honWl . al , h oan •march into the tion and c y on our poi-ul.tion, •, time that a halt. iT eU - f r^ ns clubs had the .dvantaee 0 f as , O , HUge . ■ A 77 whi -h tl.py cjefuse Jianies to ■.myope not^'a % proper person, " ut greedy lo gra , fees from . a „ a^ d ■sundry they .haye M Ucens.s indi.ciimmately. "Get says ; a well.nown, racing clu^tary, '\.nd the uontn the totalisator ..■etu.rns. ■ But tius.ii bosh, 'as -was clearly demonstrate the results of he recent Keildinjting, and- so . is . the argument thatiy all racing club ' sec.etar.es use for, \ m con t icte % cri . ; minals "Get -fhqees," .h e y __ai:, there s no chanif " their, getting twenty pounds' wOpf.-beiling.v and, vet it is^vonderfulj a i ot of mone y ,hese notorious ch !rs dohold. on . oaces, and how tiathey bold it, ifl it Roes against theAn apposite case . occurred at the en.ury Jockey Club's meeting last|h ( when a we'lkhown thief, acd ici i ,, y a clerK , paid, his lifo'ff.and Avent on to the lawn to betie W Zealand L'up day, Itis. said,, thv- went- to-Ric^-carton for ihe c*i< r4po.se of ue't ing up against Master I and Bobrikoff • but. at any rate, t peppered these' two unmercifully aw quite a lot | of money on the twej. Another Case ! occurred m Feilding lfel_ ; where a pair of shari cvs fresh iri|dney laid well over the odds on Ain^. , v6re Kno | to put a lot of the n c k with other ! bookmakers at a shCince At Wai I tara the same pair ruc k , for x^ j over a winning doub^ Maori, and I when the latter presihis ticket it! was ripped up m th mary - fashion but he was only paiij which he had ' to he content with b ss ti S r ac ti6n . could be obtained fro racing authorities. It might be fed wl f y the s e . unknown individuals d;b Usnie ss. But . there is a good reaso^." They come j ,-on to the course asjg bra | s , ■ exhibit flaring hig bcith ,most at[tractive prices. T i nal -„ „m v„ P« n t«r is not fully aliv,] ie j_\ ct tll | t • the clubs license. any( 0 comes a 'long and if he knows |, c fact that ithe bookmaker exhibitiame and liis prices m big letters sfc a i lav sus . picion. If it comes tlrf s » W av they I rapidly rise to atfluencb lt ioesa gainst them then tlieyi punt^ £ reflect on the wretchek thincs eenerally. Were the racinj S ? SrohiSt " the boards these scaled be sevS I ly handicapped, the tofr an the ! IT l^ n b h ?. oKmal \ers 'do bustnes' and the public could be sa fety Jl the clubs wish to saveinachinV r*» I turns they should reruns to all ' bad characters do >wj the boards and run the totalisatc^ businesslike and hohest manneifcheory that i the- ".wv.ws" c v,-^ . ho -' tn " t .^ 1 _ I

isator is long ago exploded, for hacker* are aware that m the past the machine has scaled" the same as the bookmakers. The public afe, for their part, urged to patronise the machine or the bookmakers whom they know to be of good repute, and -when they come across any 'sealers" on the course to deal with them summarily, as the Australian sport* ing crowds do.