SECOND READING. (Hansard, 13 June 1871)

THE EARL OF MORLEY

, in moving that the Bill be now read the second time, said, that the object of the Bill was to amend the Act of 16 & 17 Vict. c. 119, entitled an "Act for the Suppression of Betting Houses." That Act, passed in 1853, had failed to effect the purposes for which it was passed; and, moreover, it was confined to England and Ireland and did not extend to Scotland. This Bill would extend the Act to Scotland, and they would thus be enabled to reach a class of offenders who at present escaped with impunity. There were a class of men who got their living by advertising to give information and advice in respect of betting, and to make bets on behalf of other persons. When the Act of 1853 became law these people retired to Scotland and issued their advertisements from that country, where the Act had no operation. Their circulars went through the length and breadth of the land, and, offering very great temptations, they entrapped a great number of unwary persons to entrust them with money for the purpose of making bets. These sums were frequently as small as 1s.; but these small bets were perhaps the most pernicious part of the whole system. When the time came, these advertising betting men presented their dupes with a debtor and creditor account, by which it was made to appear that their money had been fairly lost—because lost it invariably, or almost invariably, was. They were, in fact, in the great majority of cases, mere swindlers. He did not at all suppose that betting could be put down by Act of Parliament; but the Legislature could at any rate do some service by putting a stop to the depredations of this description. 1974 The 3rd section was directed to the Amendment of that clause of the 16 & 17 Vict. c. 119, which related to betting houses. At present, the penalties of the Act were restricted to the owner or occupier of any house or office used for betting, or his servants or agents. This restrictive part of the clause was repealed, and now any person who should receive money for betting purposes was brought under the Act. As in the existing Act, this clause affected only what was called deposit betting—that is, when a sum of money was handed over to another person before the event on which the money was staked, came off. By the 4th clause, persons advertising that they will give information or advice as to betting, or with intent to induce any person to resort to them for such information or advice, or to take shares in any bet or wager, were made punishable as by the 7th section of the principal Act. And the 5th clause enacted that a circular or letter, sent by post or by any other means, in connection with betting transactions of this kind, shall be deemed an advertisement within the meaning of the 7th section of the principal Act, and be punished accordingly.