GRAVE SOCIAL MENACE

Star (Christchurch), Volume XLIV, Issue 659, 12 January 1933, Page 1

GRAVE SOCIAL MENACE

Totalisator Clubs, Betting and Lotteries. RUGBY, January 10. In connection with the Royal Commission’s report on lotteries and betting, totalisator clubs, which have multiplied rapidly in the past two years, are described as constituting a grave social menace. The report says that totalizators on greyhound racing tracks involve serious social consequences and that totalisator betting, whether on a credit or a cash basis, should be declared illegal except on authorised horse racecourses. Some time must elapse before the Commission will be in a position to report on the whole field of enquiry on lotteries and betting, but the present interim report on one aspect of the subject has been submitted to the Government immediately owing to its urgent importance in view of the development of various forms of totalisator betting. Lobbyists generally agree that, though some Ministers favour the retention of totalisators on licensed dog tracks, #ith the abolition of unlicensed tracks, they are not likely to cause difficulties in the probable event of Cabinet accepting completely the recommendation by the Royal Commission on Lotteries and Betting to the effect that totalisator betting in clubs and on greyhound racing tracks should be brought to an end as soon as possible. It is expected that a private Bill will be introduced to test opinion in the House of Commons. This is sure to be rejected if Government whips are issued against it.