PROHIBITING STREET BETTING.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 11402, 20 April 1899, Page 6

PROHIBITING STREET BETTING.

THF, CITY COUNCIL'S liY-LAW. A special meeting of the City Council was held last night to consider the proposed by-law for the purpose of prohibiting bookmaking, betting, or street or. other nuisances on the public thoroughfares. Messrs Smith, Chapman, and Sinclair, the corporation solicitors, wrote stating that they had slightly extended the provisions of the by-law beyond those of Wellington" and other cities, in order, if possible, to prevent evasions. The by-law is as follows: — By-law No. 8: Street Betting and Gambling By-law, IbSX).-—The City Council of JJuneciin doth ordain as follows:—1. This by-law shall be read us extending and amending by-law Wo. 1 oi the City ofJJunediti, and as incorporating the same and its amendments including, the interpretation clauses. 2. No person shall frequent or uso any street or other public place within the city for the purpose of bookinaking, or transacting or entering into any part of the business) of a bookmaker or of a betting agent, or betting, or wagering, ■or agreeing or proposing to bet or wnger with any person. 3. Any person who shall offend against this bylaw "shall be guilty of an offence, and for each offence shall fdrfeit- a penalty not exceeding five pouiida to be recovered in any court having jurisdiction in the blatter. Cr Gore was rather in doubt about the by-law.. He .did not think it was required, and, in addition to that, it would -,be a difficult matter to enforce it.. If his Worship were standing on the" footpath in front of the Grand Hotel talking to a friend,' arid-a policeman, with perhaps more Zeal than discretion, came up and said, "You are making a bet,"''would that be sufficient to secure a conviction? Councillors :. No. • , . Cr Gore: Then how can you get a. conviction? The -by-law is so1 much 'waste 1 paper. . •■..], Cr Solomon said it seemed to him there ,were two difficulties, in ..connection with the by-luw. As Cr Gore had said, it could not be enforced',- and what would be the. probable- result •if it could be enforced? He thought tho enforcing of.the by-law would be an irisurmountable difficulty. How could they prove 'that- two men on the street who were talking together were talking aboin) a wager at all?. To pass the by-law would, be making a dead, letter.. such as by-law No. 2 had ,been. But suppose the 'by-law:Mvas practicable and could be ■ enforced, what would be the result? That they would drive the men who' choose to bet—and thousands' of people bet—into publichouses or other places for the purpose of making their wagers there. All the large cities of Australia had large clubs —the Victoria Club and Tattersali's, —;where'men who made wagers ■hired a room,-, and all the people who wished to do business i.ivith them resorted to that room, and there the business was done. The carrying of a by-law such as : this would rather intensify/ the evil of gambling than reduce it. They might as well try to bail out Lake Wakatipu with a teacup as pass a by-law to stop gambling on the'public-streets. Cr Gore: You wilt make it a Source of: annoyance to respectable citizens. The Mayor: Whether the by-law will prohibit the betting,' or stop it -or not, that is a question Aye. cannot tell, but one thing is clear that should also Be clear to '] the council: that it should be our duty to try and , protect the footpaths by preventing people from collecting upon them. Cr Solomon': By-law' No. -2 does that. The, Mayor: No. The police and-everyr j one who has the working of the by-laws say that'the. by-law,_does not give them sufficient'power.- .'■-.-■ .-" -,-■; . Cr Solomon: ( It-has. never, been tried. The Mayor, said if v the'proposed by-law prevented people from congregating on the footpaths, stopping others from passing up and down,'it would,do a good thing : even if it did nothing ■ else. Whether it would send people to a club or other rooms to carry on." their betting was another matter. As-long as they: cleared the: footpaths, and made it clear for people to move along, was the: main point for the council to aim at. Cr Haynes said this matter.was initiated by a deputation that waited on the council some time ago. It was sent on to the General Committee, who took it that the fact of it being sent on was in itself'an indication that the council wished a by-law of the description sought for by.the deputation brought up. - ' - ', ;■■ Cr Solomon: No. : '■ . ' | Cr Haynes; agreed with Cr Solomon that ] in Melbourne they had betting,'clubs, and • he supposed'there were l'such clubs all over the world; ■ but his experience of Melbourne—and he'had'"passed along- Bourke street on the'eve of a Melbourne Cupwas that no betting i man would dare to put his face out on the street and-engage in any form of betting. The idea of this by-law, he understood, was to stop •bookmakers perambulating the streets and ask- j ing young men s 'and others to.bet.-. It was I the only by-law referring to. betting. It would not allow bookmakers to tempt young men who would not- otherwise go into any club to bet. : At any rate, if the by-law did no good, it would do no harm. A similar by-law had been passed in cities in the north. . . ' Cr Denriiston thought it was the duty of the council to regulate the .traffic on the streets,. and although they w>;re not the custodians of the morals of the' city, that fact should not influence them one way or the other. It was their duty to prohibit betting' on the streets. Cr Gore: I don't know that it is done | now., I don't see it. j Cr Miller said, it struck him that this must be the high season of by-laws in the City Council.- At their last meeting-they passed a by-law that was now the laugh-ing-stock of the community. Councillors: No. | Cr Miller, continuing, said .they were now about to pass a by-law that would be quite ias bad as the other." Cr - Haynes said the | purpose of the by-law'-'i.waS' to prevent j bookmakers perambulating the streets and | I sticking, up young people to bet, but he | ! liud seen nothing of that sort of thing. \ | If the by-law was intended to stop people from loitering on'the streets, they had that I power already, and if that was the whole i reason of the by-law it was of no use what- j | ever. It was a pity the council should I I-make itself the laughing-stock of the com- j j munity by passing by-laws that were use- ■ j less and that could not he enforced. If, I on the other hand, they could pass a law I that would prohibit betting on the streets, ! he would decidedly support it, but he looked on this by-law, .as perfectly inadequate for the, purpose intended, and he trusted the ■ council would let the matter go by default, and allow by-law No. 2 to work in the way it was said this new bylaw would work. He did not know of an instance of bookmakers perambulating the streets for the purpose of intercepting young people and 'asking them to bet. He would .certainly' oppose- the by-law. | Cr Howlison said as far as he conld i see there were only a few people who were j to be studied in ibis matter, and the}' were ! the shopkeepers in Princes street, between | High street and Eattray street. The whole j thing hq-d' arisen through people congrej gating 'there,-and by-law No. 2 would meet i;hs purpose that was now aimed at i by the proposed by-law. | Councillors: No. The Mayor: By-law No. 2 does not meet the case. >. Cr Solomon: No ;it has not been tried. The flavor: It has been tried, and you knoW1 it. Cr Solomon. Cr Solomon: I beg your pardon, your Worship. ' The Mayor: No, it does not meet the case, and, as Cr Haynes has already said, it is the duty of the council to pass! the by-law;-in order to back up by-law No. 2, so as to give the police the power that is desired—to stop people from congregating I on the. footpaths and stopping the traffic on the street. It is our duty to do this, and so protect the public. The motion was carried by 6 votes to 4. The Mayor, and Crs Denniston, Christopher, Park. Haynes. and Carroll sup- j ported the motion, and Crs Solomon, Howlison, Miller, and Gore opposed it. A motion to hold a special meeting of the council on the 31st May to confirm the by-law was also carried by 6 votes to 4. —In London the Chief Commissioner of Police has any number of men to let out on hire. All public buildings, such as the Houses of Parliament, the National Gallery, the British Museum, etc., are guarded by hired policemen, and every one of these institutions has to-pay over to the Chief Commissioner so much per head. Theatres, banks, and other private concerns engage a large number of the men in blue. , —The greatest pilgrimages to the Holy Land are undertaken by the Russians. It has been calculated that between 30,000 and 40,000 Buasians visit Palestine avery year.