CONDITIONS AT AUCKLAND.

Otago Witness, Issue 2805, 18 December 1907, Page 57

CONDITIONS AT AUCKLAND.

APPEAL TO THE ATTORNEYGENERAL. AUCKLAND, December 12. The conditions imposed -by the Auric- i land Racing Club concerning the issue of j licenses to bookmakers for the summer ireeling were discussed at a mee^ng of tha Auckland Bookmakers' Association, and as a result the following telegram was despatched to ihe Attorney-general : — "A deputation of bookmakers waited on the Auckland Racing Club last night. The committee of the club had expressed its intention of dealing fairly with the bookmakers. To our surprise, the club has framed conditions which are impossible to comply with, and several of which, we are legally advised, are beyond the power of the committee to enforce. The bookmakers are anxious to avoi i any unpleasantness or anything pertaining to disorder at the forthcoming meeting, and ask your intervention towards the accomplishment of this desin&le end. A clerk is charged £5. A small strip of ground is set apart for betting. A bookmaker, under club rule 6, wiH probably nave to cease belting 10 minutes- before the time specified in the act." The following Teply was received from Dr Findlay: — "I have wired the secretary of the Auckland Racing Club, informing him of tfie purport of your- telegram, and asking for a reply. Will wire you later." A VISITOR'S COMMENTS. PALMERSTON N., December 12. Mr W. H. Judkins, the well-known Melbourne reformer and editor of the Australian Review of Reviews, interviewed by the Manawatu Daily Times to-night, expressed hia amazement at the licensing of bookmakers in New Zealand, and at any member of the Reform party voting for such a proposition. He said ' that, knowing the evil of bookmakers as they did in Australia, the Reform party there endeavoured in every way to put them down ; and he was extremely astonished to hear that members who profess to be opposed to gambling should have voted for the clause. Otherwise he commended the Prime Minister's act. PALMERSTON NORTH PROPOSALS. PALMERSTON N., December 13. The following are the conditions under which the committee of the Manawatu Racing Club is prepared to issue licenses to bookmakers to ply their trade on the Manawatu racecourse during the forthcoming Christmas meeting: — I. Applications for the issue o? a book- ! maker's license must be in writing, and in the hands, of the secretary not later than noon of Thursday, the 19th December inst. Tne Application may be for one, two, or three days, and must be accompanied by a cash deposit of £20. '2. Every application shall be accompanied by documentary evidence as to general and financial fitness of the applicant to hold such license. The committee reserves the right to ask for additional evidence or to refuse the application if the evidence tendered appears to be insufficient. 3. The fee paya'bl« for a licence shall be £20 per diem, payable upon the issue of the license. A person applying for a license for more than one day can secure the same upon payment of £20, but the license shall be totally inoperative for a second or third day until it is endorsed with a receipt by the secretary for further payments of £20 each in respect of each such days. 4. Each bookmaker shall be entitled to have a clerk in attendance upon him at the racecourse upon payment of a fee of £5 per diem. No person who ha* ever acted as a bookmaker shall be eligible to act as clerk. No clerk snail act as a bookmaker or as the agent of a bookmaker in laying wagers, calling the odds, or transacting the business of a- bookmaker other than purely clerical work. 6. No holder of a bookmaker's license ahall oarry on his calling as a bookmaker except upon that portion of the racecourse especially set Mide for that purpose, and in respect of which 'he is specially licensed, provided that guoh portion of the racecourse auaii give reasonable facilities for oommunioation with both the public in the saddling paddock and the public in the outside enclosures. 6. No bookmaker shell be allowed upon the lawn or grandstand enclosures, and no bookmaker sb&U call the odds or transact any betting business outside the enclosures »at apart for that purpose. 7. No bookmaker e(hall make any bet on any race after the closing of the totalisator for that race. 8. No bookmaker shall lay any wager in contravention of section 4 of * The Gaming Act. 1894," and. in particular., no bookmaker shall l«.y totalisator odds. 9. Any bookmaker . or the clerk of any . bookmaker, who shall be proved to the satisfaction of the stewards to have committed any breach of these conditions or of the Gaming and Lotteries Act, ox to have been guilty of a. corrupt practice within tbe meaning of the rules of racing, or to have -committed any breach of the rules of racing, shall be liable to have his bookmakers license cancelled, and. in- the event thereof, he shall not be entitled to a Tefund of any portion of his license fee, and, in addition thereto, shall be liable to be expelled from the racecourse. 10. Every bookmaker and clerk of every bookmaker shall wear a distinctive badge. 11. Every bookmaker shall, whenever called upon so to do by any official of the olub duly authorised by the committee, produce bis bookmaker's license for inspection. A LETTER FROM THE PRIME MINISTER. DARGAVILLE, December 13. The secretary of the K&ihu Hack Racing Club haa received the following telegram from the Prime Minister: — "Haok and pony races are horse races within the act, and it is legal for the stewards of such a meeting to license bookmakers under the act if there is a totalisator permit for such a meeting; if there is not a totalisator permit, under section 34 of the act. stewards can admit' or exclude "bookmakers juet as they think fit." CONFERENCE OF BOOKMAKERS CHRXSfTCHTTRCH, December 16. A conference of accredited delegates from bookmakers of the four ' chief centres was held on Saturday evening for the purpose of framing proposals for the regulation of bodkmakerg under the Gaming Act, said proposals to be subniitted to the Racing Conference, which will hold a special meeting to consider the subject on January 23, it having been officially suggested to tbe bookmakers that they should submit j proposals at an early date and reinforce them by a deputation to the conference. Aftci long discussion it was decided to sub-

mit the following proposals to the conference: — License Fees. — Clubs giving less than £750 » day in stakes, £5 per day inside and £2 10s outside; clubs giving £750 and less than £1000, £7 JOs and £3 15s; clubs giving £1000 | and less than £1500, £10 and £5; clubs giving £1500 a day and less than . £3000, £15 anc £7 10s; clubs giving £2000 per day and over £20 and £10. Annual licenses to be granted by the under mentioned clubs at the following rates, to hi paid half-yearly in advance: — Auckland, flat inside and £75 outside; Wellington, £125 and £62 10s; Canterbury, £150 and £75; Dunedin, £100 and £50. Each bookmaker to be allowed one clerk without additional fee. Bookmakers' and clerks to be registered by the metropolitan club of the district in which they reside on payment of a fee of £1 Is, the names to be published in the official calendar. In the case of a partnership, one menibei of the firm to be eligible to act as clerk. Conditions of registration to be uniform throughout New" Zealand, and arranged by the conference. Registered bookmakers to be allowed on courses for which do not apply fox license on the same terms as "the public. Bookmakers to be allowed a reasonable position in which to bet. such position to ba defined by posts, free from 'fences or other entanglements. When not engaged in carrying on their calling, bookmakers to be allowed all tha privileges conceded to the general public. These proposals will be submitted with a view to being put into operation for one year.