The Wilmington morning star., 1946-12-30
As Pegler Sees 1t
BY PEGLER
1na.--;nh4 hu King Features Syndicate. In

Downright by King Features Syndicate, 1nc.)
NEW YORK, Dec. 29.-Max Kase, the
sport editor of the New York Jou-nal-Amerl
can. has opened a little contest in which the
clientele are invited to argue the proposition
that we have a journalistic duty to publish the
point-spread odds established by the profess
sional gamblers, on various games, in season.
The question came into controversy early IN
the case of the attempt to fix a big profess
sional football game at the Polo grounds.
Lew Burton, of the sport side, said these odds
were news, as important as other news. l say
that, by publishing them, WI aid and abet the
in an lille gal operation. These quota
tons are published not only in New York but
in other cities and the habit of presenting
them just grew, along with the growth of the
traffic.
The morality of gambling, by itself, is not
an issue here. That question has been de-
cided by the people through their legislature
under the republican,, not democratic, form Of
government which is guaranteed to our states
by our national Constitution. Through this
means, not only New York, but, I rashly ven
ture to say, all other states, with the possible
exception of Nevada, have decided that gam.
bling is illegal, saving certain whims and
vagaries. Such is the WinnoWed wisdom of the
people who, in many respects, recognizing
the danger to themselves of indulgence in
pleasant f~ollies. have authorized the cops tc
sNN>AA1s ~ AAAS W ~ -
immoral, tending to defy and discredit gov.
eminent, the moral issue is thus disposed OF.
For a more garish illustration, let us as.
sumo, unthinkably, l hope, that there are in
our midst some secret houses of prostitution,
and that the prop-ietors, with some justice,
believe some members Of our good society
would take it as a public service on our part
to keep the public apprised of certain COM
merclal data. Ou- own policy in the press
has been severely otherwise. The vitality OF
this ancient trade might tempt a reckless de.
batter to put us down as censorious, but here
again we have only to look to the law Tor
guidance and ease of conscience.
This and gambling are equally Illicit and
the legislative process has spared US problems
OF decision, If only we would avail ourselves
OF the convenience instead Of looking for
trouble. 1t is a comfort not to have to decide,
for ourselves, not to quote fluctuations in the
price OF having an enemy knocked off. We just
know. somehow, without having to phone our
lawyers.
So the issue is plain and the correct de-
cision obvious.
These arguments invariably elicit the fact
that we may, and most of us do, print the
track odds on horse races. The difference
here, and our excuse, is that these carousel.
are licensed by law and pay into the public
treasury a percentage of the total amount
Wagered. 1t was not by our decision that an
inconsistency lies here whereby one kind OF
gambling is made lawful and, one might say,
almost a public duty, like the duty to buy bonds
and pay taxes, while others are forbidden.
1t is our right, and some of US may think
1t our editorial duty, to inveigh against the
olstlnctlon, whether to advocate total aboli-
ton OF all verbotens on all gambling, to for.
bid betting at the tracks or to establish munic.
lpal blackjack and crap tables for the con.
venlence OF those who can't afford the cost
In rNnnnu aud IIo~>-. & L.--
plants. Here, lest I be charged with fault, let
ne say that I quite understand that the
nutuel prices are published not for the in.
OF those who do attend the turing
but for the guidance of those who, for MANY
reasons, can't. The presumption is, and l share
II, that such readers have found facilities to
bet illegally off the licensed premises and
want to know how much they have coming
from their bookmakers, or would have had
coming if the pig hadn't quit. But it is
official Information concerning a legal OBJ.
Grafton and the fault is not ours if an element
OF part-tlne anarchists abuse the situation.
The point-spread odds do not have their
origin in any legitimate activity. They are
by wholesalers for a sinful purpose,
they levy an arbitrary tax of 20 per cent
through the standard 6-to-5 ratio, which is
more than any legislature has deemed to be
TAR IN fixing the states portion of the horse.
track mutuel money, and, in publishing them
while aware of all the facts, we take the posi-.
ton of accomplish.
10 whom then are we accomplish?
Our partners in this business, as we know,
are low characters of the underworld who, by
the enormous persuasion of money running
into hundreds Of millions, would be able to
corrupt our government through bribery. Would
that be nice?
A few years before the wa-, I made a
study OF lotteries, in the course of which /
gathered an enormous mess of unimportantI
information on the British football pools.
These roughly paralleled our new craze, al
though in detail there were differences. They
were legal and the only revenue they paid
to the British government, which certainly
needed money, came in the form of increased
postal receipts and personal income taxes on
the operators. They made their own odds,
paid as much as they liked and came to be
regarded almost as a public utility, because
the English, underneath it all, have a streak
of Chinese and will bet madly in terms of
pennies or shillings. So big the volume was that
it seemed that if it were killed they would
have serious unemployment OF lald-off post
office help and the clerks and bookkeepers
in the home offices of the pools.
Some Britons who thought they should
be taxed were talked down by others VINO held
that this was a dirty business and mat the
tax-money would be dirty money winch the
government should take no part OF. me gov
eminent already was taking part OF 1t IN the
form of personal income taxes out unat 1eA
in another department.
-JJ l.. a cihJo 4 n Ii a