BETTING ON THE RACES.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 16462, 14 June 1919, Page 6

BETTING ON THE RACES.

WHY IT IS POPULAR. (By “Delta.”) The betting habit, whjch has so great a hold on the people of this Dominion, is an interesting feature of our social life and worthy of investigation. It is obvious that such large sums of money would not pass through the totalisator unless people hadi some definite motive in risking it, and we may ask what this motive is. in the first place people bet on racehorses or engage in other forms of gambling for the sake of the excitement it provides. The lives of most people are monotonous —they get up and go to bed, eat three or more meals daily, and do a certain amount of work. Such an unchanged routine soon becomes wearisome, and human nature seems imperatively to demand some form of excitement to break the dull round. Some find the required tonic in drink, others at the pictures, others again in revival meetings, but a very large class seek their excitement by betting, not only at the local races, but at meetings all over the country. There is, of course, another and less pleasant side to betting—the desire to acquire money without working for it, which is theologically classed as the sin of covetousness. To some this is the chief attraction of betting, l but there is no doubt that in most cases the desire of excitement is an even stronger element than the desire for easy gain. It is' the combination of the two aims that makes so many men and women gamblers. ’’ THE BOOKMAKER. - It was at one time supposed that the establishment of the totalisator would materially reduce betting, because people would- only be able to bet, except in few instances, on the local races, but the continued existence of the bookmaker- has prevented this being the case. The calling of the bookmaker is afmost curious one. His occupation is perfectly lawful, and ho is described in directories and on electoral rolls as a commission agent. He comes into town, to work daily like other citizens, but cannot have an office to do business, nor may he carry on his calling in any public place, yet no one who is anxious to make a bet finds any difficulty in doing so. Similarly those who wish to invest in Tatfersall’s sweeps find no serious obstacle to sending money away, and many persons subscribe a shilling or two a week to a syndicate in the hope of winning fabulous sums. This seems a coriiparatively harmless way of wasting money; the weekly cost is not great and one always has a pleasant expectation that some windfall may be coming. THE PROFITS OF BETTING. It needs little investigation to show that those who expect to make money out of betting on racehorses are of a singularly credulous nature; yet the betting man generally considers himself a person of exceptional acuteness. With the millions that pass through the totalisator and through the hands of bookmakers, one would naturally expect to find at least a few great fortunes derived from the racecourse; wet it is impossible to point to them. Indeed it would be hard to find any business man or farmer who had made money won at the races the foundation of future success. Hundreds of men in New Plymouth spend a considerable portion of their time in the attempt to spot winners, and- not a few can form a reasonably' accurate-opinion from the study of performances and weights as to the horse that should win any given race. Such men might be expected to win more than they lose if they have a reasonable amount of money at their disposal. Tin’s they rarely have, and even if they had their chances would be materially lessened by the fact that tbo horse that wins often depends less on form than on arrangements made by jockeys, ’ trainers and owners. It is a curious fact that the more a man knows as to the inne/history of racing the less faith he has in the honesty of his fellow men. A glance at the faces of the men who appear in our streets during race' meetings gives some support to this unfavourable view; no one would ever suppose that they were here to attend a church congress. Attendance at race meetings does not often lead to great winnings, for it always entails considerable expenditure, and the dividends, even when one spots a winner, are often too small to be profitable. For those who aim at-big gains there remains the fascinating occupation of backing doubles. If it is difficult to name a" single winner it is far harder to name two. This fact is evident from the bigness of the odds bookmakers, who have to make enough to support themselves and their clerks, are willing to give. If one wins a 50 to 1 double it means that 49 other persons must have contributed £1 to his gains; the bookmaker will certainly have contributed 1 nothing, im-lesS he happens to have made a miscalculation. The matter need not be laboured further, because it is well known that no one, except some few jockeys, can bet steadily and make money. In plain language, it is a mug’s game. THE CURE FOR GAMBLING. The real evil-of gambling is that it makes men indisposed to work steadily, as they hope to make money without toil. Stock-exchange gambling is just as bad as betting on races, but in this country it affects only a sraijll class. To stop racing altogether and to put all bookmakers in gaol would not end gambling, it would only make it take other forms. Gambling would undoubtedly be reduced for a time owing to lack of the usual facilities, but as the desire would still exist means would be found to satisfy it. If we wish, as everyone must, to reduce gambling it must be by some other method. We may get some hints from an examination of the classes who do not yield to the temptation to back horses. Those who attend the churches regularly do not bet, but the churches today have difficulty in holding their own and we can hardly expect them to contribute very much towards solving the problem. We may note, however, that the racecourse and the double-cord do not offer the same attraction to welleducated men and women as they do to those with smaller mental resources. It is true that even a university professor may go to the races and lose a few pounds, hut ho will never he a- betting man. Education seems to give a clearer apprehension of the possibilities of making money by betting than is common among those who have not had the taste or opportunity for study. One cannot but be "truck by the pitiful hopefulness of many of those who go off to the races to risk money they cannot afford to lose in the expectation of backing a. winner. They are so confident that they are full of worldly wisdom, while they are really as ignorant and trusting as children. Many are full of generosity and) will confide valuable tips, reported to have come from someone connected with the stable, to their friends, anxious ihatstliey too

should share in the coming shower of gold. It is too often a ease of the blind leading the blind. Education is, then, a partial cure for gambling by widening the outlook, but it is chiefly successful because it gives a man other interests and excitements, besides which putting money on horses seems childish. Everyone should have interests in life outside his daily work, which must often be monotonous. It does not matter whether it is books, music, carpentering, gardening, or politics, or any of. the thousand things which can occupy the mind or hands profitably. Our education should-aim at giving our children, even if they leave school at fourteen, some occupation for the mind which will give ,it the excitement it craves without having recourse to so idiotic a relaxation as betting. The change' can only be brought about slowly, but no serious reform can ever be other than a. very gradual process.