§ MR. VERNEY (Buckinghamshire, N.)I beg to ask the Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he will lay upon the Table of the House a Return showing the growth or diminution during recent years of the profits derived from gambling houses carried on under Government licences in the Federated Malay States; and whether it is the intention of the Government, and, if so, in what way, to abolish altogether licensed gambling houses in the Federated Malay States.
§ MR. CLAUDE HAY (Shoreditch, Hoxton)May I also ask the Undersecretary of State for the Colonies what is the amount of revenue the Government of the Federated Malay States derive from gambling-houses; the number of gambling-houses from which revenue is derived; and what steps the Government propose to take to do away with a state of things under which the Government derives revenue from gambling-houses.
§ MR. CHURCHILLAs to the revenue derived from licensed gambling, the answer given on November 5th to the hon. Member for Renfrewshire (East) contains all the information available† It is not possible to state the exact, amount, as the gambling farms have hitherto been leased in conjunction with other farms, but the average annual revenue from this source is estimated at about 3,000,000 dollars. I am unable to state the number of licensed gaming houses in existence. As regards the question of the abolition of licensed gambling I can add nothing to the
† See (4) Debates, clxiv., 114.389 answers given recently to the hon. Members for Orkney and Shetland, Sunder-land and Leeds (East). The Secretary of State is fully alive to the objections to the system, but he is satisfied that immediate abolition is impracticable. Steps are now being taken to abolish the system gradually.