PARLIAMENTARY

Observer, Volume II, Issue 47, 6 August 1881, Page 530

PARLIAMENTARY

OVER THE SPEAKER'S CHAIR. BY ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. (FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

WELLINGTON, Thursday. Chicken Hazard. — One would suppose that the Attorney - General was deeply impressed with the wisdom of laying up treasures not only on earth but above, when he drafted the Gaming and Lotteries Bill. Shonld this Bill become law, Maude no longer must bet gloves on the winning horse, nor Mabel kisses with her lover. You must not bet a new hat on an election, nor a perambulator on a baby-show ; no man dares hazard a bob on how Reader Wood would vote, or Avhether, placed in a difficult position, Speight would tell the truth. It is uncertain whether Adam and Eve used to bet fig-leaves with each other, but the question is of considerable antiquity, if not coeval with our race. Many divines have asserted that when our ancestral pair had any dispute about their wager that a division of the . fig-leaves took place, and Eve always got the stem part, being something to catch hold of, •and hence the origin of the word better-half. Frederick Whitaker says, however, there shall be no more cakes and ale, and no man in the future in New Zealand shall stake a stiver on the hazard of a die. Billiard and pin pool are to be abolished, and no man will be allowed to play "shell out," except the Colonial Treasurer. Hurst will not be allowed to raffle a painted pig, and henceforth no Cabinet office can be disposed of by lot. No boy in Auckland iv the future Avill be allowed to raffle a canoe or a bull pup, and no parson can establish a gaming saloon called a Bazaar, with all the pretty girls in his flock jacked out and dressed for exhibition and the seduction of men. Abbot must not advertise any more sweeps, nor must Frazer play any more 100 at the Northern Club. The bookmakers' occupation is gone, and consultations on races are to be regarded with as much suspicion as a consultation with the Witch of Endor or with a handsome woman, young Avithal, possessed of a. familiar spirit. Brett must have no more betting advertisements in the Star, and pictures of race-horses must not be exhibited publicly, lest they lead the young to gambling. All these thoughts flashed across me on Saturday morning in the small hours, and many others, when Dick, true to his instinct and training, sought to force clause after clause of this asinine Bill through the House. I felt very sure about the suppression of lotteries. I had always looked forward with a feeling of hope and satisfaction to the time when we should have a yearly lottery to pay the interest on our debt, and now this hope is over. Murray thinks we must get money for the State, no matter how we get it, and I have always placed my faith in lotteries ; the tickets were of course to be sold out of New Zealand. Having a vested interest in oxir Governors through paying them a good salary, they were the first articles I considered we could dispose of. The Legislative Council would go next, then the House of Representatives, and fourthly I would have raffled oh" our Constitution, over which so much vaunting has been done. Having disposed of the larger, I would next have dealt with the lesser things, such as Mayors and Boards and Councils, before I touched the Maoris or their lands. Insurance Department. — I should have kept to insurers the success of the lottery tickets. Yogel, when he came back, could have managed and arranged the whole business. It was very wrong, however, for Mr Whitaker not to have explained fully to his colleague, Mr Dick, the nature and the mode of playing "Fan-Tan." The greatest uncer" tainty was felt in the House on the subject. Reeves, of Greymouth, having some knowledge or recollection of a woman called Fan or Fanny, thought Fan-Tan was something like " Kiss-in - the ring," and could not find it in his heart, he said, to consider the pastime a crime. Bryce thought it was Chinese chess. Dick held it to be something like original sin undefinable. Wallis thought it was another name for 100, while Sheehan said its definition euchred the Ministry. There was also great doubt about what was meant by a work of art. It was inquired if Bertie Sa'verna was a work of art, and whether poetry, horses and asses came under the category. Fox said a race-horse certainly was. Mineral specimens were declared to be works of art, and so were mechanical inventions. Reeves tried to get swine included in the list, but Wallis said they were unclean things ; a pet lamb might be, it was thought, but not an old billy-goat, a Tom-cat, or a gridiron. The totalisator is to be abolished. All advertisements connected with racing are to be sent to the Australasian, and there is to be a penalty of £30 for publishing them in New Zealand. If you have a billiard-room attached to your house, the Police can come in when they please. Half the fines are to go to the informers, the other half to Atkinson ; they divide the plunder between them. No penalty is attached to gambling in stocks or shares. No punishment is to be awarded under the Act for salting a mine, that being considered a work of art. Bowen called the Act an outrageous effort of prudery, and many people will be found to share and endorse his opinion.