AN ABSURD RESTRICTION

Waipa Post, Volume XXIV, Issue 1687, 17 November 1925, Page 5

AN ABSURD RESTRICTION

the question of totalisator

DIVIDENDS.

Commenting on the law which forbids publication of totalisator dividends in newspapers, the Christchurch Star says:—“Those who can do their betting at the racecourse are able to see at a glance what dividend has been declared, but ithe great army of bettors who stay away from the racecourse, or bet on distant ra'ce meetings, have no means of finding out promptly and accurately what dividend any horse has paid unless they get information from the bookmakers, who, in turn, have a system of telegraphing the figures from the most obscure race meetings in New Zealand. These outside bettors, precluded from telegraphing money to the totalisator, are therefore thrown right into ithe arms of the bookmakers, who have taken care to consolidate their position with the public by scrupulous accuracy in the figures they supply. The law, in effect, drives all nonracecourse betting into bookmaking channels, and makes ithe bookmaker the only reliable and easily accessible source from which to obtain betting information. And the absurdity of itflie law and its admiiriistrajtion (is realised when it is stated that although <i\ Newspaper correspondent may not include in his telegraphed report the amount of a dividend, this information is telegraphed daily to bookmakers, and is tabled regularly to Australia and published in newspapers which reach New Zealand by the next mail.”