THIRD EDITION UNITED STATES

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LV, Issue 17108, 14 November 1929, Page 13

THIRD EDITION UNITED STATES

*— WORST GAMBLING PLACE .V ,Tnr ” CLERGYMAN’S VIEWS i:V.‘ ! SYDNEY, November 1. “Having been in Wall Street and watched the proceedings on the Stock Exchange, I have come to the conclusion that Australian, horse racing is not the worst form of national gambling/ said tfe© Rev. C. Irving Benson, a Melbourne Methodist minister. He arrived from San Francisco on? the t-onoma. Mr. Benson’s comments were made apropos the recent selling orgies on YVali Street, in which billions of dollars were lost. He was convinced, after his visit to the United States, - that* Anstralia is still the best country of the world, offering greater comfort, greater opportunities, and greater social amenities than lands abwJan. Healing with the ehoct of the I olstead law, Mr. Benson n _aid that piohibition was the most lied-about subject under tile sun. All, the white be was in America he kept bis eyes open. It was true that liquor might be obtained. Yet he did not see one drunken man in his visit throughout the whole of the United States. Mr, Benson refuted the impression that Chicago is a very wicked phuee. It was no more a sink of iniquity than Sydney or Melbourne. ('tic bad to consider! the immense population of more than 3,0Cj0,000 persons and lhe( oxtra- ' ordinary diversity of nationality. There was a section of Chicago known ironically as “The League of Nations,” because the polyglot community which lived there. Chicago was in reality a very charming city, with splendid boulevards and public highways. “In Canada,” added Mr. Benson, “is striking example for the free Churches Bpf, Australia to follow. Overlapping fand competition has been eliminated, and more than 800 new posts have been established in three years. While. in America I hiade a thorough investigation of charitable work, and one of the great lessons they have to teach us is in ■ thß direction of co-ordination of

charitable organisations and the synchronisation of work under municipal

bureaux. In Australia most societies .work independently, and unprincipled persons can SO from one to another and practically live on them. Under coordination, the work done by each organisation is registered at a • central bureau, and no ‘doubling up’ is possible. It.rreveiits a great deal of wasteful charity.” . In America a great weight of opunon was growing, added Mr. Benson, that America had treated Great Britain very •ungenerously iu connection with the repayment of war debts. Many of the finest men with whom he had had contact freely expressed that view, and he would not be at* nil surprised to find that attitude finding some practical expression in the neat' future. When in Britain lie was thrilled to find, a spirit of optimism and expectancy. Biitj ain had turned the corner and was headed for re-established supremacy.