LOTTERY MENACE

Southland Times, Issue 19502, 17 March 1925, Page 7

LOTTERY MENACE

GROWTH IN NEW ZEALAND DETRIMETAL TO PUBLIC INTEREST REV. NORTH AGAIN PROTESTS. (Special to The Times). CHRISTCHURCH, March 16. To-night the Council of Christian Congregations discussed the lottery evil, which it was asserted was gaining a hold in New Zealand. The matter was brought up by the Rev. J. J. North, who submitted the following motion:—“The Council of Christian Congregations calls public attention to the lottery menace. The Dunedin method of providing playing grounds by public lottery is being initiated in several centres of which Christchurch is one, and it s discreditable method, detrimental to public interest and injurious to the morals, and is calculated to strenghen and popularise the illegal Tattersail habit, since in regard to odds and returns it is the poorest rival thereto. The Council is of the opinion that the Government ought to refuse such applications, and calls attention to the recently published conclusions of the Parliamentary Librarian on the devastating effect of the lottery habit in Queensland. New Zealand ought in the opinion of the Council to be saved from such degradation.” Mr North stated that the movement in the direction of establishing public lotteries, was becoming too frequent, and the success of the movement in Dunedin had caused Christchurch arid Invercargill too, to follow in the same direction. It was not tolerated in England, and should not be in New Zealand. It was a movement in the wrong direction and the matter was urgent and should be strongly brought before the Government. The Chairman, Archbishop Julius, said that he hoped the motion would not be defeated, but in his opinion it was not couched in sufficiently strong terms. Archdeacon Haggitt said that resolutions which were too long lost some of their force. If a resolution was too much like a sermon, it was liable to be misconstrued, and he thought that if the Rev. North could excise some of his resolution, he should do so. Rev. Lawry: I think that if all reference to Tattersails were cut out the resolution would be much more effective.

They did not wish to advertise Tatters alls. Dean Carrington moved as an amendment that all reference to TattersalLs be deleted. Rev. North said that he would not object to the amendment, and the amended motion was carried.