THE TOTALISATOR IN BRITAIN

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20316, 26 January 1928, Page 13

THE TOTALISATOR IN BRITAIN

MR J. B. REID’S VIEWS. SPEECHES AT THE GIMCRACK DINNER. (From Otm Own Correspondent.) LONDON, December 14. Several racing men referred to the subject of the totalisator at the dinner of the Gimcrack Club at York. As the breeder of the winner of last season’s Stakes, Mr J. B. Reid was one of the principal guests. The lessee of the horse. Black Watch, is Mr R. L. Neumann, who was tlie chief guest, but he explained that the horse really belonged to Mr Reid. The toast of the evening, “ The Winner of the Gimcrack Stakes,” was submitted by Lord Derwe.it, who read a letter written by Lady Sarah Lennox in 1765, in which she said: “ I want to see the sweetest little horse run that ever was. His name is Gimcrack. On the same day Lord Rockingham kissed hands, but I must say that I was more anxious about the horse than about the Ministry.” The chair was taken by Mr James Melrose, possibly the greatest character in racing circles of the country. He has entered upon his 100th year, and that was his sixtieth dinner with the Gimcrack Club. He is the personification of one of our fine hunting characters—cleanshaven, rubicund, and with the keen eye of one who has lived the open life and been a constant follower of hounds. , Neumann, replying, mentioned that he was only part lessee of Black watch, which actually belonged to Mr Reid. “I am firmly 'of opinion,” said Mr Neumann, “ that racing on the flat and o\er obstacles has been for many generations, and is now, most efficiently directed and administered by the Jockey u , In 99 cases out of 100 things are best left to them.” Turning to the question of the totalisator, he said; “ Approval, of course, is not unanimous. One cannot expect any progress without its being at the expense of somebody, but I P /u Ct / la / th ? se who i,ave the interests of the turf at heart welcome the promise ZL T e °r the dir * bcsults some people predict. I go even farther, and "7 ™ e .vr aV ho P e ;t will be the means thp P h«t\^ lng * a " °PP° rtu nitv for putting the betting tax upon a basis more satisfactory than it is at present.” AGREEMENT WITH THE GOVERN MENT. tool!’ fi * B ‘ Reid > who re P lied . warneo Vtto to 3 * matters in connection with the working of the totalisator !A England must be carefully considered .. \ P lace on the' list,” he said, a lair and eouitable agreement with the Government for a term of years at a rate of commission which will allow the racing clubs to get on their feet after th„ very heavy outlay that will be necessary for building totalisators, grand stands, and purchasing extra land in many instances. The rates should be 21 per cent, to the Government, 5 per cent. «, die racing club, and 2i ner cent, to the jockey club, to be distributed in the interests of racing and breeding where moei required. Ido not think any higher tax would be necessary or fair, certainly not for the first 10 years. The clubs will each require two machines—one for the winner and one for placed horses. 1 ravelling machines might do for the small clubs as an experiment. Two large totalisators_ should be placed in a centos! position, say, at Newmarket, to operate all the year round on every race meeting, I cannot conceive opposition on every race meeting. I cannot conceive opposition to the totalisator from any section of the community, except possibly from the bookmakers.” UPSET THE BALANCE.

Lord Hamilton, of Dalziell, senior steward of the Jockey Club, explained why the Jockey Club considered it rightand necessary that betting should contribute to the sport. “In this country racecourses are in very direct competition with those in other countries,” he said. “In other countries they have had betting to draw on as well as gate money. It has meant that here, having gate money as our only source of revenue, the prices of admission to our courses have had to be raised to figure which now constitutes a heavy tax on people 1 of moderate means. *’ I maintain that within the limits imposed on us, we were running a pretty good show up to the end of last year. But the imposition of this tax on bVtting has upset the balance of the machine that has been constructed with infinite foil by tlie .enterprise of racecourse managers, guided and helped—as I believe—bv the hand of the Jockey Club. ’ A COMPARISON WITH NEW ZEALAND. Sporting Life continues its violent opposition to the introduction of the totalisator. Commenting on the views oxpressed at the Gimcrack dinner a special correspondent writes; " Mr J. B. Reid, the owner and breeder of Black Watch, took much for granteu with regard to the proposed installation of the totalisator on English racecourses. In the first place, he did not give due consideration to the vastly dif ferent circumstances that obtain in this country from those in New Zealand. Assuming that a case can be made out tor the ‘tote,’ it is a comparatively easy matter to instal it in a country where the racing is centralised on camparatively few courses. “ The next point is that when racing has evolved through hundreds of years, interests that have been encouraged oecome vested, and , they cannot be treated as if they do not exist. “ Racing in England is a complex, delicate machine. As Lord Hamilton of Dalziell pointed out in his comprehensive speech at York, the balance of that machine has been upset by the Bets Tax. There is absolute agreement on that point among the experts. FALSE LOGIC. “ Mr Reid seeks to justify the installation of the totalisator here because it the experience of New Zealand. It is false logic to endeavour to institute i comparison where there are unequal quantities, and it is equally dangerous to compare two sets of circumstances that are as wide apart as the Poles. “To go to New Zealand for arguments in favour of the ‘ tote ’ is to ignore widely varying facts. The latest information we have with regard to New Zealand is that bookmaking is prohibited there, and that betting is confined to racecourses ana to investments in the totalisator. Licensed to use the machine are granted to racing clubs, hunt clubs, and trotting clubs. lua total number of days on which a totalisator may be used in any year is pre scribed by law, and the number of races per day is limited to eight. Evcrv totalisator license is issued in respect cf a single race, meeting, and the number of days is specified in the license. “ The bookmaker is here, he has been encouraged by the authorities, he aas put his brains and his capital into lis business, and it is unthinkable that he should be cast aside in the interests of an experiment that has never been tried elsewhere under similar conditions to those that obtain here. WHERE WILL CAPITAL COME FROM?

“ Suppose that there is an arffimative vote in Parliament, then the practical troubles will begin. It is a comparatively easy matter to instal the ‘ tote ‘ in tne country where there are not more than half a dozen courses, but in England wo have 138. Are there to be 138 fotalisators? If not, is it not better to be prohibited at all meetings where one has not been installed ? “Is it intended to close down a large proportion of the courses, and centralise the racing at a few favoured places. “ To-day there are 138 racecourses on which there is betting, and from which the Government draws revenue in the shape of entertainment tax and bets tax. Has this aspect of the matter entered the minds of the so-called reformers? “ Have they considered that an enormous capital will be required to instal the totalisators on even a fourth of the courses, and have they any idea as to where the capital will come from?

TREASURY WILL NOT BE SATISFIED. “ Mr Reid suggests that 10 per cent, should be deducted from the stakes invested through the totalisator, and it might be that that would satisfy the Government for a time, but for how long? The Treasury would so.*i awaken to the fact that the 2J per cent, which it is suggested should be its share would be a poor substitute for the bets tax, income tax, and super-tax that it now- receives from bookmakers. “The Treasury officials are theorists, and they have blundered with regard to the Bets Tax, and blundered badly, but they arc not such children in financial matters as to accept the view that threepence would be a good substitute for a si illing, and that if nearly £3,000,000 sterling tax has so adversely affected the sport an increase to at least 10 per cent, will bring about a return of this prosperity. BOOKMAKERS UNITED. “ The bookmakes have not been asleep. They have met in conference, they arc united, they have taken infinite pains to hammer out a scheme, and they will ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer to receive a deputation from them and enable them to place their considered views before him with ‘a view to future legislation being on lines that shall be less drastic, less injurious, and more in accordance with British ideas of fair play.”