16 JANUARY 1926, Page 16

A TAX ON BETTING [To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.]

Sur,—Canon Peter Green in his last letter modestly refrains from mentioning the constructive proposal which he put before the Betting Committee in 1923. He then calmly proposed (6943) that the State should, by way of a start, spend £10,000,000 in Anti-Gambling propaganda. But perhaps this suggestion is not quite so grotesque as it sounds, for it would not be' inconsistent with the practice of successive Administrations which do all they can to facilitate the book- makers' business while simultaneously denouncing betting as