J IV. 



I he Heview ot neviews. 



.Sei'te.mbeb, 1912. 



An interesting case has liet^n before 



Illegal. Election the Victorian Rlections and Qualifi- 



Practlces. rations Committee in which Mr. A. 



A. l''arthing, the new member, has 

 fjeen found "' iiimself, liy his agents, and other per- 

 sons on his behalf, guilty of illegal practices."- The 

 case was interesting, not onlv by reason of the 

 cliarges sustained, and, incident, dly, the de- 

 vices alleged fo have Iiecn employed by friends 

 "f the defendant, but also from the strategy 

 li\ which the election was fought. It 

 is well to recall the campaign. Sir Henrv 

 Weedon was the sitting member. He stood 

 as a Liberal, and incidentally .supported a Refer- 

 t^iidum on the vexed question of .Scripture teaching in 

 .State .sch(X)ls. He was opposed by two representa- 

 tix'es of the Liquor traffic;, each a publican — one 

 l>resident, the other .secretary, of the Hotelkeepers 

 As.sociation — at least a .short time ago. One of these 

 stood as a Liberal, the other as a Labour candidate. 

 ']"his might seem strange at first, hut when it is re- 

 membered that the pre-ferential \'Oting svstem was for 

 the- fir.st time in force, it looked as if there was 

 method in the business. It soon became apparent 

 th.it ih<' supporters of the publicans gave their 

 second \otes to e.ich other's side. Sir H. Weedon's 

 friends, being Liberals, naturallv gave theirs to Mr. 

 Farthing, although many did so with great repug- 

 nance, owhig to tlie issues, other than Liberal and 

 Labour, which were involved. The result was that 

 Sir Henry had- a large majority on the first count, 

 but not the absolute vote required. Hence the pre- 

 ferential votes had to be counted, and these turned 

 the scale against him. Illegal practices were then 

 alleged, and the trial took place, dragging along 

 wearily through a long [)eriod. The Committee has 

 declared the electjon void, thence a new contest will 

 f,fi>-)n be in progress. 



We in .\ii>lrali.i li.irdh know how 

 Australian well we ha\e done in enactments for 

 Gamblinf! Laws. .„arding again.st at least some ,=»cial 

 evils. Occasionally we get a shock 

 b\ i< .iding of some proposal being rejected on the 

 other side of the wivrld which we have on -om- .Statute 

 Books. an<l which works well. Such a ca.se has just 

 <yx-urred. .\ Hill was introdnced into the House of 

 Lords to sup])ress gamliling advertisements. It was 

 fiercely discussed. Even Lord Bishops deprecated 

 such advanced legislation as being iitterlv imprac- 

 ticalile, and the poor inshop who was responsible for 

 tile measure was glad to be allowed to withdraw it. 

 And yet the JiiU was almost word for word in 

 accord with sections 21, 22 and 23 ol our I^otteries, 

 Gaming and Betting Act of 1906, which prohiiiits 

 news])apers, as 'well as placard or other advertise- 

 ments regarding inform;iti»)n as to betting, or as to 

 the [irobable result of races, Ijy rea.son of which 

 |)ersons may U^ induced to bi-t. It is a wise and 

 s.ine law that guards against the homes of the peoph' 



being deluged with literature poisoned by the spirit 

 ot the g.ambler. It is only a fair and rea.sonable 

 thing to keep e\il out of people's way as far as we 

 can. That such a proposal should be regarded with 

 such a\ersion in I'-ngland is surprising, e.speciallv 

 when we ha\'e regard to the position of some who 

 supported the Opposition. 



There has been an alarming in- 

 Art Unions and crease in the extent of raffling and 

 Lotteries, ^\^^ holding of so-called art unions 



during the past year or two in Vic- 

 toria. The Act of 1906 was intended to put down 

 this .sort of thing, and for a time it w^as administered 

 with that purpo.se. Latterly, however, these gambles 

 ha\e become a public pest. Men, women and boy^ 

 shout out the sale of tickets for all soits of institu- 

 tions. Shop windows are placarded in all directions 

 with advertisements of these efforts to raise inoney. 

 The spirit of the law is being defied, and in some 

 directions its letter is evaded. The law forbids 

 raffling and art unions, unless the objects be " works 

 of art," or the proceeds go to " charitable " puiposes. 

 Such things as bicycles, buggies and pianos, motor 

 cars, are treated as works of art, and freelv adver- 

 tised. This is absurd in itself, and it is a further 

 absurdity that it is allowed by law, or at any rate 

 by its administrators. It is said that the.se articles 

 are offered to bazaar promoters by the manufacturers 

 or vendors, with a view to furthering their owfi busi- 

 ness. Further, these articles are, it is alleged, not 

 gifts to the bazaar, as they are supposed to be, but 

 merely offered as a business proposition, and the cost 

 of the article is paid to the maker or vendor out of 

 the proceeds of the raffle. Much charity there is 

 alx)ut this ! But the chief trouble is that under the 

 guise of charity the gambling habit is l>?inir fostered. 

 .V country in the.se jjrosjTerons times should be able 

 to m.inage its charities without the necessity of re- 

 .sorting to gambling. Hut just at this time this very 

 thing is prevalent. The law was meant to ])ut down 

 lotteries, and yet they are permitted in a very gener- 

 ous wav. It was meant to limit the .sale of lottery 

 tickets to tlie |)eriod during which a bazaar is held, 

 but thev are sold months ahead. They are run often 

 as business enterprises as much as efforts for charity, 

 and it is time a nobler spirit and a cleaner method 

 obtained in raising the ntX'dfiil funds for charitab'e 

 institutions. 



\ Hill was introduced into the Vic- 

 Attempts to i,.,,.;,,, i.e^rislative Coimcil with Go- 

 Wrecli Local . " ^ • 1 r 



Op(jpp vrrnment su|)port to jirovide tor 



lirciises in the Mallee districts of 

 tlu- St.ite at the di.scretion of the Chief Secretary. 

 This is the result of .'■cheming by the trade, and com- 

 jilaints bv a handful of commercial travellers, who 

 compl.un of the lack of suitable accommodation. 

 'l"he glaring fault of the measure is its negation of 

 the principle of local option. The residents ar.- to 

 lie ignurcil. no vote is to be takni. and ■• 



