Sporting and Dramatic REVIEW AND Licensed Victuallers' Gazette. With which is incorporated the Weekly Standard THURSDAY, MARCH 15, 1906. THE TOTALISATOR.

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Volume XIV, Issue 836, 15 March 1906, Page 6

Sporting and Dramatic REVIEW AND Licensed Victuallers' Gazette. With which is incorporated the Weekly Standard THURSDAY, MARCH 15, 1906. THE TOTALISATOR.

Every now and again an agitation arises concerning the suppression of the totalisator. All sorts of accusations are hurled at the machine and its supporters. It might be well if the out-and-out opponents of the system would sometimes give the matter cool consideration with a view of seeing whether there is anything to b? said on the other side of the case. Granted that this is an exceedingly hard task to set those would-be reformers, yet were they to do so it is possible that even the most vehement denunciator might see reason to moderate his views, if not change them altogether. In this connection it may be of interest to quote a leading paper in New South Wales with a view to seeing ourselves as others see us, and also as to what sort of racing prevails where the totalisator is unknown.

“It must, by this time, be patent to all reformers,” says the “Sydney Mail,” “that there are many existing evils which legislation is powerless to suppress, while the demoralising effects thereof could be greatly minimised by proper control and regulation, and among these is the inherent desire of mankind for gambling. The liquor prohibitionists have made great strides towards the reform at which they aim, by securing legislation by means of which publichouses are brought under better control, and the facilities for carrying on the sale of liquor during prohibited hours have been curtailed to such an extent as to practically abolish a most pernicious system that was not only responsible for the greater spread of drunkenness, but also acted as an incentive to gambling. But the principle of control and regulation which social reformers are ready to concede to the liquor traffic they refuse to extend to the betting question; consequently we find that in the chief cities of New South Wales and Victoria, where there is no attempt at control, save that of suppression, gambling in its worst phases has, under the eyes of the authorities, increased in volume until it has become a menace to the well-being of the people; while the facilities for wagering by means of the illegal private “tote” and betting-shops are plentifully diffused in all parts of the cities and suburbs, so that even the woman or child who desires to invest a modest sixpence can be accommodated without the slightest trouble. “It is not too late, however, to remedy the evils of excessive racing and unrestricted wagering which, of late years, have become the bane of the turf. The existing state of things has been brought about by a section of the community that persistently refuses to countenance wagering in any shape or form, and demanded nothing less than its utter suppression. The intentions of these worthy people are undoubtedly good, but, unfortunately, impracticable, and when the legalisation of the totalisator is advocated, they are found in alliance with the bookmaking fraternity and the “tote” and the betting-shop proprietors, to oppose it at every stage. They will not assist to legalise the totalisator on the racecourse, and support a system which has flooded our principal cities with gambling-dens, in which betting is carried on every day in the week, from morning until a late hour at night. I* these social reformers are anxious to appreciably abate the gambling evil, they can easily accomplish it by compelling the Legislature to legalise the machine, .and also to exercise some control over racing, and which, it would seem, the turf authorities are unable or unwilling to effect.

With the legalising of the totalisator, laws should be enacted which would rendei the position of the ‘tote’ and bettingshop proprietors untenable, and, that having been accomplished, figures easily show the decrease that can be effected in the volume of gambling in the metropolitan district of this State. During the current season the legitimate racing fixtures in that area total 62 days, and with the totalisator in use on the racecourse wagering would be carried on for about four hours each day. Compare this with the system now in vogue —scores of bookmakers inviting and transacting betting on the racecourse, and hundreds of gam-bling-shops in full swing in the city and suburbs on at least 300 days in the year. It does not require much calculation to arrive at the measure of reform that could be accomplished by the enactment of the legislation outlined, and those who desire to bring about a better state of things should seriously consider on which side their influence will be cast when the legislative bodies on both sides of the Murray must, in the public interest, grapple with the important question that has been thrust upon them by the open manner in which the law has been flouted by the ■“tote” and betting-shop proprietors in Sydney and Melbourne. An object lesson in connection with the totalisator is afforded by New Zealand, where the machine has, for many years, been in use or the racecourse. Since its adoption in that colony the turf has in a measure been brought under State control, the number of race meetings has been greatly reduced, proprietary racing clubs have been abolished, the sport has been purged of malpractices, the prizes have been increased, and breeders benefit accordingly.”