ANTI-GAMBLING LEAGUE.

Otago Witness, Issue 2323, 8 September 1898, Page 21

ANTI-GAMBLING LEAGUE.

S A public meeting in connection with the establishment of an Anti-gambling League was i held in the Y.W.C.A. Rooms on Monday even- ! ing. The Rev. A. North presided, and there i was an attendance of about 40 persons, in- | eluding several ladies, four or five gentlemen engaged in religious work, three or four book- | makers, and more than one person whose name appears in the list of disqualified persons in the Racing Calendar, i The Chairman, in opening the meeting, said that criticism had been directed against those who had taken action in this matter, and it had been suggested that others might have done it more effectively, and that it would have been a, more gracious and graceful thing if the initiation of the movement had lain with others than the Ministers' Association. All that he had to &ay to that was that the others had had their opportunity. The Ministers' .Association jumped no man's claim, and , took action under a conviction 0 of the necessity of action being taken, but there wa3 no &ort of idea of confining the movement to themselves or of curtailing the movement in any way whatever. Moreover, it was a mistake to suggest that the Ministers' Association represented only a small and uninflu- , ential part of the community, the fact being that the religious bodies represented in the ! membership of that association formed a large majority of the community. There was sufficient reason for the Ministers' Association taking action, and it was not inappropriate, to say the least, that they should set or attempt to set the ball rolling. The necessity for an Anti-gambling League was affirmed at a pievious meeting, and their business that evening was simply to adopt a constitution and appoint officers. The committee , who had been acting bad found that there i wero many leading men in the community ( who were fully with them in so far that they f desired that the gambling practices ■which | were so common should be curtailed, if not j annihilated ; but they found also that a good : man;/ of the^e were unable or unwilling to give their names and their time to further that movement, and some of them went a little further, and on more practical lines, I and expressed their willingness to give money. | — (Hear, hear.) The meeting might have ' noticed that in the current number of the j "Review of Reviews" it was stated that the j gross total that was put through the totalisaI tor in New Zealand in the year amounted to £800,000, and attention was called to the fact ■ that whilst in 1887-8 in connection with the 11 leading metropolitan meetings the amount passed through the totalisator was £228,000, j last year the amount was £404,000, these figj ures showing very clearly the magnitude of ' the evil and the necessity for some action being taken. _ He did not know whether it was a mere coincidence or a case of cause and effect, but he had observed — and the police and public were to be congratulated on the fact — that since their last meeting the corner j at the Grand Hotel had been freed of the ' nuisance that had existed there for so long. — , (Applause.) j Apologies were expressed for the absence of the Revs. W. SauiidewL J. Gibb, and I. Jolly, Miss Statham, MessriTA. S. Adams, A. Maaengarb, and W. Wardrop. The Rev. J. Muirhead (acting-secretary) submitted the draft of the constitution • suggested by the sub-committee. In terms of the constitution "The Anti-gambling League" was accepted as fhe name of tb.e society, and the object agreed upon was "to bring prominently before the public the evils of gambling and betting and to endeavour in eyery way to suppress these evils." It was also agreed that the membership should be open to ail who are prepared to endorse the principles of the league and will pay an annual subscription of not less than Is. i The Rev. J. Muirhead said that the com- • mittee had asked Mr Justice Pennefather to accept the presidency, and his Honor, who was in hearty sympathy with the league— (hear, hear), — would probably have complied but for the fact that he was only, here temporarily for, the speaker thought, eight months. The committee then communicated with Mr A. Sligo, M.H.R., and had anticipated that that gentleman would consent to take the office, but he had written that, being away from Dunedin so much, he thought it inadvisable • lo f,ccojjL the honour. i It was resolved that the matter of the presidency fcp left in the hands of the committee to make ths election. 1 The election of other office-bearers was then 1 proceeded i-vUh, resulting as follows: — Vice- , presidents, the Hon. W, M. Bolt, the Revs. j J. Gibb, W, Saunders, and W. Curzon-Sig-s gerg, and Mr A. C. Begg ; hon. solicitor, Mr jA. S. Adams ; hon. secretary, the Rev. J. j Muiihead (who, the chairman stated, was the j initiator of the moi eroent, having brought the , matter, in the first instance, before the MiniI sters' Association) ; committee, the Revs. A. I North, J. T. ITinton, and T. G. Brooke, j Messrs J. W. Butler, Duncan Wright, J. A. i Torrance. and J. Fl.F 1 . Arnold. The matter of I the election of treasurer was l emitted to the executive. The Rev. J. T. PTinton having expressed regret at the preponderance of "parsons" in the ; executive, J Mr R. Clark declared that the reason why i people prominent in business could not asso-

ciate themselves with movements of that sort should be faced — it was a trade reason. They could not allow themselves to be associated j with such a movement, for the result would ba that they would lose trade. The Chairman said the committee felt that , it was desirable that there should be a large 1 majority of those other than ministers of the Gospel on the committee, and there would frlill be a majority, but not such a large cne as they had hoped. That was not their fault. The onus lay on those y£io declined to accept office in the league. There were a lot of prominent business men in the city who give no time and labour to the public service, but whose whole attention and activity appeared to be absorbed m their own business affaire. He was sorry for it, and trusted that they , would learn better. Mr J. Neil relented Mr Clark's remarks an jan insult to business men. The bulk of busij ness men were not so connected with gambling and drinking as to be afraid to have their names on the committee. Mr Clark explained that his remarks had no reference to tradesmen being associated with gambling in any way, but to the fact that business men associating themselves with a movement of that kind alienated some of their supporters who were interested in gam- , blmg. There was no one who suffered more ■ from the gambling evil than the business man did. j On the motion of Mr F. C4raham, a tote of thanks was accorded to the committee who had acted since the last meeting.