Crusade against Gambling.

Ohinemuri Gazette, Volume XIII, Issue 1081, 27 March 1903, Page 2

Crusade against Gambling.

Another crusule is bcung wage-1 against gambling, and the tct'ilisator is being attacked as an eiicuui^ger^of" gambling .among all classes, men v, nl women, boys and girls, of the ( > < itr.unity. Our sympathies are wuh, those who would prevent, as far as possible the corrupting and character lestroyinv? i-ifl lences of gambling ; but we fear thiM-e is a point to which, entliusiastic reformers m-iy gn that would practically uudo all the go:xl that restrictions supported by the. moral sense of the community have already accomplished. Thero was a time in the history of the Englishspeaking people when the playing of tennis and bowls was prohibited, and it was not until. 1845 that these outdoor games could be played legally in any public ground. The commonsense of. the people declared thaf; these and other games when not accompanied by gambling were bene-' fieial and not injurious to the health and morals of the players. Cards ■ were' also prohibited, although the playing of: cards is not per se hurtful to tha morals of those who '* take a hand." It is only, iudeed,. when | cards are played for money in certain places ami uudar cortuin conditions that the plaj'ers become amondable to existing laws. The making of bftis upon the merits of a horse is not ia : itself an illege.l act, but if a person (makes bets in a public street he islxabje to be prosecuted Common-sense has sanctioned gambling on horse races on racecouress, and the law has established as the " faii*9st game on the courso " the totalisator as the least likely to lead to disastrous results- to those pursuing the game. Indeed, the institution of the totalis-itor has lessened the gambling evil of ,this colony, and reduced the'practice to no greater an evil to the individual and public morals than is the effect of gambling on Stock Exchange values. The totalisator, in bo far as it tends to confine gambling to the racecourse, is a reform that ought not to bo lightly esteemed; and its abolition at tho instance of those actuated by a Puritanical spirit, would in our opinion, lead to the institution of a worse state of affairs. It may be a form of excitement that only a limited number can indulge in and retain their self-possession and self-respect, but we cannot think that "the men who invest their money on the totalisator are moved by an avaricious spirit. It is rather the contingency of winning or losing, and the expectations arising from the " backing of their fancies " that ia at the base of all totalisator investments.' We ,do not think -this spirit would b9 destroyed by the abolition of the totalisator. It is, however, with the methods of modern reformers that, they should mistake the'"facilities for: gambling for the desire to gamble. There might be some slight connection between the opportunity to gamble and the -desire; • b:it the,; gambling spirit would not be destro}'ed were the totalisator abolished, and experience has taught us that' the introduction of this instrument has lessened the '• evils attendant on race meetings. The totalisator has also not only directed considerable profits from "the ring " to the public itself, -but it has raised the status of racing, . and in that way has increased the value of the sport as an improver "of the breed of horses. Until those who would abolish the totalisator ' propose something better to take its place, they should cease their attacks upon it.—N.Z. Mail. "