GAMBLING IN WALES.

Waikato Times, Volume 96, Issue 15358, 5 October 1923, Page 6

GAMBLING IN WALES.

PREVALENCE OF BETTING. POPULARITY WITH WOMfcN. Betting is rampant in South Wales, according to evidence submitted to the Select Committee of the House of Commons, which was appointed to consider the advisability of the pro-, posed tax. Superintendant Ben Evans, of the Glamorganshire County Police, expressed his views as a police officer of 40 years' experience. He regarded the present Betting Acts as very much out of date, and said they did practically nothing towards answering the purpose for which they were originally intended.

"Among the working classes," said the witness, "there is a latent hostility towards the police, who have to enforce the law, and one cannot help feeling that they are right, as it seems manifest that the law relating to betting is very much one-sided —its acts as a repressive measure against persons who are poor; but it allows those who can afford it to bet."

Superintendent Evans added that at election 'times Communists in the South Wales coalfields quoted the Betting Act and held it up as a sample of what they termed "class legislation."

People in the mining districts did not regard betting as wrong, much less as a crime, and they sympathised with any person who was caught and prosecuted. Betting among women was prevalent to a large degree, and mothers sent their children, aged ten to fifteen, with betting slips to bookmakers.

"They commence by being errand boys to their mothers," said the superintendent, "and later they gain knowledge of what is really means, and then they start betting on their own."

Dole Money for Betting. Superintendent Evans said that it was a common practice for people who drew the dole to bet extensively. Miners bet on anything. "Do I understand," said the chairman in astonishment, "that Welshmen bet on anything?'' Superintendent Evans discreetly replied that they would at anyrate bet on anything in the nature of sport. Three colliers, he said, recently put £9O on a horse. He proceeded to give instances of women who had been found carrying on betting houses without the knowledge of their husbands.

"It is my considered opinion," he added, "that betting will never be stamped out, and that further repressive measures would only lead to unrest. I think it would be better were the question grappled with in a straighforward manner, and not from a puritanical point of view." He believed that if miners were prevented from betting it would lead to a certain amount of social unrest. The chairman: Do you think that an educational movement to show .that betting is a mug's game, and a tax on betting, would have a tendency to limit and control it?r—l think it would. It was explained that the preois or evidence, given had been prepared hy the deputy chief constable, who was unable to give evidence owing to illMr Morgan Jones described the statement that it was common for out of work people to bet as a very serious allegation, but the superintendent stated that within the last two or three months he had discovered at least a dozen out-of-work miners who had started as bookmakers. Any Form of Gambling.

Superintendent Evans had to reply to a volley of questions put by Mr Grenfell, a member of the commlti§e, who disclosed the fact that he himself had been for 23 years a miner. The superintendent declared emphatically that miners bet while they were in the pit. "Will you be surprised to know that I have spent 23 years underground, and I have never known of a bet being made by miners at work?" asked Mr Grenfell. Superintendent Evans replied that was one way the police were baffled. Miners came up from the pit, and one of them would take bundles of slips to a bookmaker. He agreed that the majority cf the people went to church and chapel, but he still maintained that the Welsh people would indulge in any form of gambling. Mr Grenfell: lam afraid Ido not know my own country. s Superintendent Evans: They are a different type, perhaps, in Swansea where you come from. Mr Grenfell: I would not run down my country If I were you. Is it not your opinion that it is inferior races of the world and not the superior races, who gamble? Superintendent Evans smiled blandly, but would not commit himself to a reply. . The challenge, however, was taken up by Mr Gershom Stewart, another member of the committee, who asked Mr Grenfell if he contended that the Chinese were an Inferior race. "The Chinese are great gamblers, was the reply. „ "That is no reply to my question, retorted Mr Stewart, hotly when the chairman caled the two members to order.