Hevieiv of Reviews, 1/7/06. 



THE GAMBLING DEMON IN 



AUSTRALIA. 



^' Tote " Shops and Their Surroundings 

 of Crime -The Tightening 



Australia gambles. There is no doubt of that. 

 The evil infects her like some disease which has got 

 into the blood, is finiily rooted, and which is sap- 

 ping the strength of the body. No nation ever 

 flourished on vices, and Australia is beginning to 

 show many of the decadent features which follow 

 vicious courses. Unless they be recognised and dealt 

 with, they will become chronic. Many men bet on 

 cvervthing, from ordinarv everyday little quibbles on 

 urdinarv subjects to big stakes in Melbourne Cups. 

 And not they only, but women and youths bet to 

 an alarming extent. It would be quite bad enough 

 if this were done privately. The evil is increased 

 ten thousand fold when Governments either grant 

 facilities for betting, or el.se allow betting establish- 

 ments to exist almost untouched by the law. 



Our Governments do not yet realise the import- 

 ance of the evil, or if they do, they are negligent 

 of their duties to an extent that is incredible and 

 criminal. In some States the totalisator makes bet- 

 ting easy, but none the less an evil. In every State 

 races art; carried out under the patronage of mem- 

 bers of Governments and Parliaments. Victoria 

 gives her gracious patronage to one of the things 

 which is cutting her foundations from under her 

 by observing a public holiday on Cup Day, while 

 the Tasmanian Government licenses Tattersall's. 



Needless to sav, therefore, gambling flourishes 

 " like a green bay tree." We begin the training 

 early. The children practically are taught the art 

 of gambling by raffles at certain church bazaars, art 

 unions for charity, etc. In that connection it is no 

 more than the mere statement of a fact to say that 

 the Protestant Churches, to their everlasting credit, 

 have almost unanimously set themselves against this 

 thing, and raffling has been openly and unequivocally 

 <-nndemned by every one of their Church Councils. 

 From one end of the community to the other, from 

 the poor to the rich, it i.s gamble, gamble, gamble. 

 Here, clerks in business houses embezzle and go to 

 gaol. There, bank managers are short in their ac- 

 counts. Every now and again the heads of great 

 business establishments are startled by the news that 

 some trusted person has absconded or is arrested. 

 Cause at the l>ottom of it generally — gambling. 



A I'EOSPEBOrS PROFESSION. 

 But one of the wor.st features about the whole 

 thing is that the profession of gambling has become 



— A Reign of Terror — An Organisation 

 Tentacles of the " Tote.'' 



by a section of the community a .settled and pros- 

 perous calling. Not content with the betting 

 facilities which are afforded on racecourses, there 

 is a gang of men who make their living by running 

 what 'are called "Tote" shops, where stakes as low- 

 as a shilling are accepted. " Hazard," " Two-up 

 schools," and Chinese lotteries abound. Truly the 

 w-ay of the intending gambler is made easy. Now it is, 

 in most of the States at any rate, illegal to keep a 

 gaming ho-use, so the law is got past by the 

 parties who run these concerns either defying the 

 law openly or by fomiing clubs/'with entrance fees 

 and rules of membership. Entrance fees are low, 

 and in some cases the fee is returned as soon as the 

 member is enrolled. . It is really the existence of 

 these places which has brought t^.e gambling ques- 

 tion into such prominence recently. They prac- 

 tically bring the racecourse into the heart of the city, 

 and extend it here and there throughout the States. 

 Advertisements in the new'spapers notifv betting 

 facilities, and the poorest person finds the perfection 

 of modern civilisation so adaptable to vicious prac- 

 tices, that, in the language of the pushing storeman, 

 betting " is brought right to our doors." Nay, more, 

 to such " base use " is the telephone even put. The 

 " Tote " shop is, of course, only one of the very 

 many facilities which are provided for gambling. It 

 does not form the sum. total of gambling facilities 

 and possibilities ; but it is so great a menace to the 

 community that in this article special at- 

 tention w-ill be directed to it. I am as much 

 against the bookmaker on the racecourse or the 

 Totalisator machine as I am against "Tote" shops. 

 The reason of the present movement is that the 

 '■ Tote " shop might be put down with existing legis- 

 lation. To cope with the other, fresh legislation is 

 necessary, and it will be pursued in due course. To 

 kill the "Tote" shop, the axe, is in the executioner's 

 hands, and it might be killed if the executioner were 

 only to wield the axe. 



GAMBLING AS A MANTLE OF CHARITY. 

 The art of running " Tote " shops seems to reach 

 its ])erfection in Melbourne and Sydney, although 

 in the other .States it is practised w'ith skill and .suc- 

 cess. The presiding genius of this particular furm 

 of gambling facility in Afelboume and Svdne\- is a 

 Mr. Wren, who, in additioti to betting fame, 

 has made himself notorious b\ giving dona- 



