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Star (Christchurch), Issue 17040, 14 May 1923, Page 10

somewhat damaged. The attention of Mr Justice Stringer at the Supreme Court at Auckland was drawn by the probation officer, Mr .Campbell, on Saturday morning, to the number of young men appearing before the court on charges of stealing their employers' money, states a Press Association telegram. -They seem to think it quite sufficient to excuse themselves by explaining that they got into trouble over betting/’ said the probation officer. His Honor said lie quite agreed that it was certainly lamentable to find so many | youths committing crime* of dis- j honesty when they were in employment which would provide them with adequate means of living. Bookmaking was illegal, but so long as common juries disregarded their oath and acquitted, bookmakers who were covivicted upon the clearest possible testimonj. so long, he supposed, -wogld t ,hey have those, sort ol things. The oniv alternative was to disentitle offenders to the benefits of probation, and .sentence them to periods of detention. However, he did not intend . to start at the present session, but this could he taken as a warning-