The Totalisator Problem
The interim report of the Royal Commission on Lotteries and Sweepstakes has been signed, and should be published early next week: We may he content to wait that short time for its findings, merely noting that according to rumour the Commission has come down more heavily against the totalisator on dog-racing tracks than most forecasts had suggested. There can, of course, be no question of allowing dog-race totes any privileges which horse-race totes do not enjoy, but the argument for putting the two on the same footing is, as we pointed out last week, strong, in spite of the radical differences between the conditions under which horse-racing and dog-racing respectively are carried on. That means, primarily, that the dog-race tote must not -be, as it has been hitherto, a source of profit to the company owning the track. In that case the company might think the totalisator not worth continuing, in which case the problem would solve itself. If, on the other hand, it was continued, interesting and rather difficult questions regarding the disposal of the profits would arise. The Commission's conclusions on these and similar pohns should give both the Home Secretary and the general public ample food for reflection.
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