Stratford Evening Post With which is Incorporated "THE EGMONT SETTLER" (Established 1890) SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 1934 The British Betting Bill

Stratford Evening Post, Volume III, Issue 198, 10 November 1934, Page 4

Stratford Evening Post With which is Incorporated "THE EGMONT SETTLER" (Established 1890) SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 1934 The British Betting Bill

i iPHE British Betting and Lotter- j ,[r ies Bill.is now before the j j Hcuse of Commons, in the comj mittee stage, after having had a j | stormy passage through the i i House of Lords, where it was in-.; ! trcduced toward the end of | March! The Bill is based largely ! *on the recommendations of a j j Royal Commission appointed to j inquire into the alarming in- j crease in facilities for organised or ! professional gamr.lirg, which, it \ was held, could be shown to have j serious social consequences. No j attempt is made in the legislation j to deal with betting abuses of j

long standing, the main object ! appearing to be to check such i newer growths as dog-race bet- j ting, public sweepstakes, news- j paper lotteries and the tote-clubs, j the last-named having grown in ! mushroom fashion since their in- j troduction about two years ago. | Particular attention is given to j dog-racing, which, the commis- j

j sion considered, provided' the i best illustration of organised ex j ploitation of the gambling propensity. The Government found itself up against serious difficulties 'in this section of the Bill, and its (proposals have since been fairly i harshly criticised, although it is 'admitted in many quartes that j they represent as reasonable a j compromise as could be hoped I for. The objection to dog-racing | meetings is not only that they are | held too frequently (five or six ! times a week throughout the I whole year), but also that dogi tracks are thickly established in j the industrial centres, offering an almost irresistible enticement to j the workers to bet regularly. The ! Bill proposes to reduce the nura- | ber of licensed tracks, - and also | to allow betting only through the j bookmakers or the totalisator on J any licensed track on not more | than 104 days in the year. 3t is j admitted that this course will not ! abolish the evils attendant on dogj racing but it is claimed that jit will reduce them very consid- ! erab'y. In this connection the i Government * departed from the 1 commission's recommendation, I which aimed'at placing a ban on J (he use of the totalisator at such meetings altogether. I The second part of the Bill, dealing with lotteries and prize c"ompetit ; on. c . has been criticised on account of its severity. It seems that while certain kinds of private lotteries will be permitted, an absolute ban is placed on such lotteries as those conducted by the Irish Hospitals Trust. The j first eight of these sweepstakes ! drew from the pockets of British 'purchasers alone rsn ress than | £18,500,000. The Bill makes it ; certain that the Irish sweepstakes ' will be cut off from its British re- ! sources by penalising the seller, j and bv prohibiting the publica- J Hon of any reference to drawings j or prize-winners. There is natur- j ally a good deal of resentment | that the Government refuses to j sanction the large lottery, but it j is a question on which it has j steadfastly refused to change its ■

jmind. Finally, the Bill seeks to J control newspaper competition? [by prohibiting those which de|pend on some kind of a gamble i rather than on skill. The Times, | in an interesting comment when i the measure was' first brought down, applauded it for its recognition of the principle that the regulation of gambling was a matter not of morals but of expediency, maintaining that the inexpediency of excessive gambling and its consequences was of practical and inescapable concern to the State. The Bill, the newspaper submitted, took the line of common sense by banning only what could not advantageously or practicably be tolerated.