The Washington herald., 1912-10-14
GOSSIP GATHERED IN
COUNTRIES ACROSS THE SEA

4
with respect to the gross amount In
hard cash that changes hands in the
course Of . years racing In England -
the result Of waSers made upon race
horses there 10 no reliable means Of a.
pertaining. Sidellghts, however. are not
infrequently thrown upon the subject. -.
for example. when Q sugsestion wAs put
forward to the. effect that bookmekers
should be licensed. A million sterling was
estimated to result therefrom. while
very remarkable indication Of the preva-
lence Of betting was elected at the time
Of the expulsion Of the English book
makers from Holland last year.
| When appealing against the decree. It
was pointed out to the Dutch government
that II annually benefited to the extent VI
f5.ooo from the sale Of postage stamps
to the colony Of bookmakers at Middel-
burg. fSooo from postage. and E5.ooo in
kilograms from the Flushing bookmakers.
who employed 100 clerks and contributed
El.0o0 q year In taxation and and cleo
from the receipts garnered At the Goes
post-ofhce. When one small branch Of
the great betting fraternity. and that one
! carrying on operations At great disad-
vantage overseas. spends sum on pnst.
age alone equivalent to the dispatch Of
$4,000 letters at 2h pence apiece. It
will be recognised that the business 70 q
very extensive one. and that . ri:h rev.
enue-producing mine Of wealth lies TO the
hand Of an enterprising chancellor OF the
exchequer who will take to himself the
regulation and taxation Of betting trans
actions.
| That the British sporting fraternity in
cludes . large proportion Of the most
liberal and open-handed contributors to
charity liz q well-ascertained fact. and
one has not the slightest hesitation in
saying that a vast amount OF good 10
done In a quiet. unostentatious manner
by the turfmen. Still. It cannot be gain
said. In the event of q levy OF per
| cent being placed upon all betting
| transactions, that the Dement'S derived
from an organized system Of taxation
would be even more satisfactory than
the present haphazard system now In
operation.
The chief obstacle to the establishment Of
the ''pari-mutuel" at English race-courses
| Is understood to arise from the vigorous
| opposition OF the bookmaking fraterni-
ty. from which 1t may be inferred that
the wagering public would not be the
| loser. even In the event Of the authori-
| ties ear-marking two-twenty -fifths Of the
| ..totalizer's' takings. These would amount
to a good round sum. as can be gathered
| from the fact that the French govern
ment. in 1911. realized something like 80
| 10000 francs as the result Of transac-
tions at the "pari-mutuel'' offices. aggre-
eating close upon 81. 900. 600 francs.
II the 40OO0.000 Inhabitants Of France
indulge in wagers asgregating 375.ooo. 900
francs per annum. it stands to reason
| that the population Of the United King
dom. q nation with less tendency to
! save and far more inclined to speculate
on horse races. would furnish the Chan
cellor OF the Exchequer with at least
1. $50. 900 pounds as his percentage OF the
Ii. oOO. 900 pounds that would represent the
minimum receipts Of the "totalizer."
The "pari-mutuel'' system was calcu-
lated some little time ago to furnish the
government Of New Zealand. where Il
has been fiourishinG for some years. with
the equivalent Of a tax Of shillIngs 4
pence per inhabitant. q proportion that.
II applied to the mother country. would
represent upward Of fs.ooo0o0 per annum
to the exchequer. and. of course. a to
talizer' aggregate Of upward Of f6o,O0o.-
Oce
This amount. on the face Of It. appears
to be ridiculously high. but when the
fact Is taken into consideration that in
1911 the totalizater's investments at Ade-
laide. with a population Of under coo.coo.
aggregated f5a2,0oO las compared with
EI53.5is the previous year.. or not very
much under f3 per head. it will be real
ICED that II is quite within the bounds
Of possibility that the betting transac-
tions of the United Kingdom are far in
excess of the sum-El7. .0OO. .000-referred to
In the first instance.
That betting is increasing by leaps and
bounds in this age Of get-rich-auick
methods II would be idle to deny. esre-
cially in view of the fact that in France
the betting statistics showed an advance
from $4,000 pounds In 1882 to 15.0oo.0oo
pounds in 1911. In the event of the total
izer being introduced into Britain. in what
manner and for what purpose would the
minimum receipts of ]. 1.3600O0 pounds be al
located? II the French system were fol-
lowed, one-half Of the amount of 6S0, 900
pounds. would be dedicated to the ex-
penses Of the department controlling the
system: a quarter. or $4,000 pounds. would
be applied to charitable purposes: one.
eighth OF 10000, would be distributed
among British horse-breeders. or used to
purchase thoroughbred sfres for govern
ment studs: and the remaining eighth
would be used by the Minister Of Agri-
culture for irrigation or other purposes
connected with the national industry.
A famous sixteenth century mansion.
Garden Hall. twelve miles from Chester.
the other day was destroyed by fire. the
occupants only Just having time to es-
cape. 1t was a black and white. half
timbered mansion. and was one Of the
vt~A h,,tN L.
Valuable pictures. jewelry and furniture
were des(royed. and the total loss is esti-
mated at 6o.o0o pounds. The building
was owned by the ancient Cheshire fam
lily Of Leche. but was occupied on lease
by Col. George Holdsworth. formerly
commanding the Seventh British Hussars
and now the prospective Conservative
FUNNY