TICKETS IN "TATTS"

NZ Truth, Issue 569, 13 May 1916, Page 7

TICKETS IN "TATTS"

A PUBLIC SERVICE "INQUISITOR

THE * fiAgLEIfS " OF THr IAND SURVEY DEPARTMENT

Cannot A, D. Themsfn be Better Employed?

There is great Consternation m Public Service cirplert m Wellington, anfl Dresumablyas the facts become known the consternation i will spread all over the Dominion, inasmuch as a very important issue is involved, and that is, whether the Public Service Triumvirate, Messrs. Robertson, Triggs and Thomson, are invested I with; ppwqrs to hold inquisitions into the moral, or, what might be' prdperjy termed, the private, affkirs pf the Public Servant. That the Public Service Commissioners do be^ heve that such poorer is vested m them is borne put by aljrepent incident at the Lands Survey Department, WelM neton, when Mr. A. D. Thomson, a member of the Trinity, and by the way an eXrStlpendia,ry Magistrate, acting, a la the police, 7 ' ;

QN RECEIVED," raided one .section of this department aha 1 took possession of a book and presumabiy "documentary evidence" wjiiph proved the existence of a syndicate m tlie department jwhich made rapntMy investments m ■ "Tatts," 1 Hobart, or -to other wprdsy •fcqmmunica}:ed with Hobaft. 1 ' 1 ■ ■ ■"' iiv'"---""' ; '"" V .'. ■' . : From what "Truth" is able to gather, certain members iof this branch of tfte Public Service devoted a small portion ofHhetr rnqn^Wy Ray enyelfip^ JP. |?HHg which was utilised for investment m tickets in -Tattemil's- lotteries, drawn m Hobaft, and it'nifght be V mentioned that this form of! gambling is legalised in^ Tasmania, though the Commonwealth law looks "sideways" on it, but nevertheless does riot take very drastip steps t° prevent jTasmania deriving a§ much revenue from "Tatts" as the Government of Ne\^f Zealaiid derives from the Totalisator m New Zealand. Incidentally, it is common knowledge that thousands of pounds annually, h?ave N|w Zealand for ' ""■' r -" r -'- . INVESTMEiSri 1 IN THESE LOTTERIES,

an^ no serious a,ttehipt is made by the authorities to cope with thdJaw-b.reak-ers. There havej been one of two prosecutions, but they have bepn f^fplpal m the extreme. New Zealand has its. share of good lyck, and many m New Zealand have become suddenly wealthy through' an investment m "Tatts." As ajnatter of fact, it might just af well , be admitted that "Tatts" is an estab- , Ushed institution, and it would be an ! extremely difficult thing to find anywhere m this co|intry a business establishment some members or employees of Vfaich have ijjot got a "Tatts" fund, aqd make: weekly Pf r^onthly Jt»V^" ments.* WhetheV this is right or wrong la not for "Truth" to say, It mere}y st&tes /What' is,! common knpwlfiiQge. inpre as an instance 6f how derided a. law of a su.mptj|ary nature cap ftecome when the eomrajunlty desires to break or disregard Wt law with impunity. Perhaps prosecution's would be niQre frequent if the authorities had any reasqns for believing that conyiptjpns would follow, :. i! but experience has' «hpwn that it is most difficult to secure cqnvictions-^-evein Magistrates have niade the Rrp^^H^pns l"unp,6nu}ar."---all over New (Zealand who form a "Tatts" f und; It is not surprising to find that such a syndicate existed m the Lands Survey Department at, Wcljlng-: top, and "TruthV has beeh'able to glean I tibftt never at any time was any secrecy made of the fact that a syndicate, or syndicates, existed. In short, it was common knowledge, and as such if the Public : Service ! Commissioners desired to Interest themselves m ihi« or any other branch of I the Public Service, partioularly on the score of ascertaining wj)ethef any ot| the P.ubllc Spryants

WERE GAMBLERS'' Jn that they invested: 1 In a ticket In "TattsVino'dlffiiiluUy. would bo or shouta be experienced ijln ascertaining the information, There being pp. secrecy ftb'put the matter, it , being common knowledge all itound, the possibility of one or all of the Public Service Commissioners interesting themselves In Ihe njatter neyjsr $t any tlnjjtt occurred to anybody." Strange, however, to relate, the Public; Service Commissioners do not seem to. have been aware of wj>at evorybody knew, and when one day last week Commissioner Thomson pounced down 911 the Lands Survey Depaitmont and got very busy collecting injfonrnatlqn Y^lch would prove, the p^Is^enfiie of a syndicate which gave it a cliancft In ''Tat ts," the commotion was great, and it bfecame greater when the affrighted Servants got busier an,d endeavoreji to ascertain who it ■v/i\n of their number had. given, tho sfypw away. Iljerc, too, no dlfllculty was exnerienccd, because. from what '•'Pruth" has fathered, one Individual admitted that he had given the information, and as a consequence, the fellow worker got what is known as -A VKRY ftOUGK PASSAfIK 11 from the othera/und what is more, they hayo kept it g^iug, wiyii tho result that the informant I ov source of Information to the Ifubllq ijiervlco CommlH»loner |i,'ia had m\y thing but a roay time of it. "TrtMh" tlO0» hot wish to engender any spliit of antagonism, except to impress Us regret at tho fact thut U. Publlic Service Commission ohpuUl encourrtge thin sort of espionage. No doubt a lot of Public Sorvujus would scorn thf Idea of divulging anything Which might lead tb'trouble for qthorii., On tho other hand, 'tlvpro .at?^ 9^h«r« ■ vf'iui would aeo nutiung imnuuiiy m admittlnsr tlio fuotH. piirtfcuUirly when every thini? win done oiienjy, atig tiIJQ VJJiStW^. Vf ft "Tatta'' tiyndlcdto w«£ JiHPW" to overyboay. OX cour«p, grciftt rI«H {9. t«H^« by. any

individual who, either from a sense, c|f wl^at is right, or strong hatred, of anything which partakes of the nature of gambling, does an act of what is known, as, "peaching," because he would be held m contempt by his fellows who see no harm m having a little flutter m a lottery. Thi3 sort qf thing cytS tw° Wfty^, Incidentally, it" might be mentioned that a "Truth" representative saw ,tha public ser-, vant m question, and having informed him thaf the paper intended to deal impartially with the matter, invited ! hirtj'to have something to say on the I subject, :tni| the individual m que^UQß declined inasmuch as, he urged that the .•■:- ■■■-■■■,■■■-■.■ ' : ;■■• ; ! MATTER WAS "SUB JUDICE." No doubt there are many individuals m thq Public Service of New Zealand who view with horror the .fact that their fellows are weekly or monthly investors m "Tatj:s," and Wfjuld deem I it' 'their" duty i# the public interest, I or : iii the welfare of the "gamUl'ers" themselves, to place the fact before the Publip Service Con^missioners, tut whether the Public Service " Commissioners shpulji^encourage this sort cf littlertatt'le^ "or -whether they should I act on the information received is a msUsr whlp.n "Tr^U" i«teß^a to. '.hftv-ft a few words on. Now, it is admitted t*hat"to"ftvesr'in "Tattg,"' i| of "{her.driminar law," arid no 'do'ulJt If the police were convinced that they could obtain a' conviction they would j:ifc'e action. If the Public Servants P? th.c Lands Survey Departraoiit were ljiw-breakers, then the police should have'^iken actipn. It would have been a good chance for a detective to have got to \york, but whether it was a dignified action for a Public Service Comtn'jssipner likq Mi*. A" p. Thomson, who Is m cecpl'p.tpi £10.00, per annum to dp "' thp "wprk bf a police ofilcer is a mft|ter jf^n \vhlch opinion is not ,dl- ! yidecl. Indeed",' same very harsh things I h.aye! he^i said about the action of Isr. A. C- 'Thomson, and the statement }s h^ad.e that there are many impori ta'nt "tnattfer^ j connected with »he VubJlc Service tli'at Mr. Thomson would jbe \yell employed m attending to, without bothering himself about the private affairs of Public Servants vho 1 spend \'b. 'few shillings monthly m pur[Cliaslhg lottery tickets. Of course, Mr. Thomson, might riot think it undignlfled, and further, might consider it his duty to do THIS SOI^T "pF "r#R,TI? W<^^?" but ''Truth" believes that he would have been much belter employed had hQ utiUsed tho services of. the detective force to ferret out what, after all, was somethjng wfr l °t\ e YeryUpJy knew and knows is openly carried on. It is deplqrable to find a well-paid KuTflic Servant' • likjs* Mr. A. D. Vhbmson, an ex-S"tipendiary Magistrate, a mai^ p| wordly wjs^m, devotinK his vdry valuable ' time to "Inquisitions" of this sort, and "Truth" suggests,now that Parliament is m session; that tjie; ut^ity P£ qtyerw.tee. of the Public sUailid form the subject of a discussion m Vavliumeht. If Mr. A. D. Thomson cannot be better employed than m fsrretting out i Bublj,o SeEV4ntiß/who devote a small sum of ineir'own money to a harmless investment m a lottery, it follows thut the services of the ffentleman m question would be better utlfised as '*. [detective or. something of equal importance and usefulness.