THE ECONOMIC ASPECT OF THE QUESTION.

Otago Witness, Issue 2325, 22 September 1898, Page 38

THE ECONOMIC ASPECT OF THE QUESTION.

It is very often said that money put through the totalisator entails a heavy loss upon the inhabitants of New Zealand. But surely a little consideration will show that New Zealand as a whole dose not lose one iota through licensing the totalisator. It is true the Government tax is 1£ per cent, upon the receipts, and that to some extent this 1^ per cent, has been parted with by a certain section of the community. But it is a voluntary tax, and although a considerable aid to the revenue, cannot be said to be a loss to the community. Of the many forma in which taxation is taken from the pockets of the New Zealand colonist, there is probably not one which is les3 grumbled at by those who have to pay it, nor, it may be fairly admitted, less felt as a hardship. The only people who grumble at the tax are, curiously enough, those who do not contribute to it. With respect to the amounts received by the several racing clubs throughout the colony by way of commission, some £5000 or £6000 is absorbed for working expenses and wages, but the whole of the remainder is given away in stakes or prizes to be run for. Out of these stakes the cost of feeding, training, travelling, and riding is paid, but; not one penny piece of it goes out of the colony. It therefore must be evident that instead of the people of the colony suffering a frightful loss through the totalisator, it merely means that the money circulates from one person's pocket to another, and really at the end of the year very few can show that they are either large losers or large gainers by it. THE MACHINE AND SPORT. It is generally admitted by those who know anything of the subject that the use of the machine, within due bounds, encourages horse-racing purely as a sport, and thus assists to improve the breed of horses. In this connection, too, we may well look at the value of horses bred in New Zealand and exported to other countries. This year certainly not less than £10,000 has been paid by English and Australian buyers for New Zealand-bred stock, and this addition to the value of exports must be, from a merely commercial point of view, of service to the community. In Russia, Germany, France, and England the Governments spend large sums of money in their endeavours to improve the breed of horses. Here in New Zealand those who of their own free will choose to contribute towards encouraging the breeding of horses not only get no aid from the State, but pay, and cheerfully pay, an annual fine to the country for the privilege of doing it a signal service.