In the House of Commons on Thursday, June 10th, Mr.
Churchill exhibited the remarkable strength of his position in regard to the betting tax. The State, as he pointed out, accepted no more responsibility for betting than it had accepted before. The proposal was simply to tax, and presumably to that extent to discourage, what was already legal. If the moral objectors proposed the total prohibition of betting he could understand them, but he could not appreciate their opposition to the proposed tax. The General Council of the Church of Scotland—an exceptionally wise body, we may add—had passed a resolution in faVour of the tax. His only doubt was whether the rate of tax at 5 per cent. on the turnover was not too high. It might affect racing itself instead of those who merely gambled on it. He would therefore consider the possibility of reducing the tax. A 5 per cent. tax would produce more than the six millions which he had estimated. Evidently Mr. Churchill has discovered that the betting expenditure of the country is even greater than he had supposed. In the division the Government had 231 votes to 152.
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