Page image
Page image

44

93. This invites consideration of the adequacy and efficiency of the off-course systems of betting expounded to us by the two Conferences. Inasmuch as we regard credit betting as entirely undesirable, it follows that any off-course system of betting must be for cash or against a deposit already made. The acceptance of cash contemporaneously with the making of bets at any given premises off the racecourse may easily give rise to the creation of a betting-shop atmosphere. That any such result should accrue- is eminently undesirable. Betting-shops have a history too lurid to make their potential creation entertainable. To create anything approximating them would be to disregard the experience of England, which was constrained to secure their suppression by the Betting Act of 1853, and to disregard the experience of South Australia, which, having permitted their establishment on the recommendation of one Commission, found them, in effect, condemned by another and later Commission. It is significant that, since the recommencement of racing in South Australia after the war, the betting-shops have not been reopened. 94. In the result, therefore, any satisfactory scheme must involve only the deposit system, supplemented by some rigidly controlled system by which the public can make bets in convenient premises off the course. It may be that the public will become educated to the adoption of the deposit system. That system has certainly appealed to the English public and has proved itself a great success in Britain, as the progress of a company known as Tote Investors, Ltd., demonstrates. This is a consummation greatly to be desired. 95. At the same time we are only too conscious in respect of all such topics as are now under discussion of the possibility that our conclusions may prove fallacious. The whole history of gaming has demonstrated that the best-considered conclusions either prove erroneous or prove productive of unexpected and detrimental consequences. Discretion dictates, therefore, that anything we propose or recommend in this relation should be regarded as tentative, and that some authority should be created charged with the responsibility of watching results so that not only variations and improvements can be given effect, but radical alterations made where the indications are that a radical change is necessary. 96. With these comments, the various schemes submitted to us can appropriately be considered. MR. J. H. WINTER'S SCHEME 97. The earliest scheme, in point of time, propounded to us was that proposed by Mr. J. H. Winter. His scheme involves the use of a number of separate totalizators. He proposes that an off-course system of totalizator betting should be established and administered by a public

Log in or create a Papers Past website account

Use your Papers Past website account to correct newspaper text.

By creating and using this account you agree to our terms of use.

Log in with RealMe®

If you’ve used a RealMe login somewhere else, you can use it here too. If you don’t already have a username and password, just click Log in and you can choose to create one.


Log in again to continue your work

Your session has expired.

Log in again with RealMe®


Alert