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Thrill Of The One Armed Bandit

From a Honiara Correspondent BSIP’s newly-established Legis e Council is all set to discuss evils of gambling. A bill which Council will have before it at its nd meeting on May 31, offers a approach on the subject—gamb is not to be banned, it is to be •gre gated!

E new Gaming and Lotteries Bill, 1961, seeks to make poker lines legal for everyone —black white —but it also aims at taking Hachines out of the bars of Hon s two hotels, ant keep them in sd only in private clubs, t the moment, Honiara’s chief 1, Ken Dairy mple-Hay’s Hotel dana has three poker machines; latown’s Kwong Chow Hotel, :h is frequented these days mainly Melanesians and Asians, has two, the Guadalcanal Club, Honiara, the Auki Club, on Malaita, have each. This is the extent of poker hine ownership in the Solomons.

Not Illegal

hey are not illegal, naturally, but Europeans are allowed to oper them. Under the new bill, natives use them but they will have to be ibers of a registered club, and at moment the Guadalcanal and i Clubs each have only one Mela an member, and there’s probably ' little chance of there being a increase of native membership in near future. ruadalcanal Club’s lone Mela an member is Francis Bugotu, an :ated man who is an inspector of >ols for the Melanesian Mission, i was admitted only this year r a general meeting had discussed details of the new Gaming and teries Bill have now been publicly ulated so as to give people time to uss the matter and tell Legco nbers what they think about it.

'he official Press release explain the subject, written in simple Eng for the benefit of Melanesians, is th reporting almost in full. Here lie greatest change which the Gov ment proposes in the new law is t there should be one law for ryone, both Solomon Islanders and

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scans, instead of two different as there are at present. The new would for the first time allow ion Islanders to play some ling games in the same way as seans without breaking the law )eing taken to Court. 2 new law would not allow all 5 of chance to be played. There I still be many kinds of gambling i would be against the law be of the evil results which come them. For these kinds of gamb i person could still be brought J a court and be fined or sent son. * important things in the new 'Quid be that— io young person less than 18 ears old will be allowed to amble _in any way unless his ather is present or agrees; 0 one will be allowed to gamble 1 a public or open place, which

means that usually a man can play a gambling game only in his own or a friend’s house; (3) no one will be allowed to play a gambling game which is not straight because everyone must have the same chance to win; (4) no one will be allowed to run a gambling school and make a profit for himself or charge any one a fee for taking part.

One very important part of the bill deals with gaming machines or “poker” machines. Under the present law no Solomon Islander can play these machines at all, but a European is allowed to play them.

Under the new law, if it is agreed to by the Legislative Council, Solo mon Islanders and Europeans will be allowed to play these machines but the machines will not be allowed in hotels or bars or in any other public place.

They will oply be allowed in private houses or clubs and if the owner does not make any profit for himself. This law about “poker” machines is the same as the law in England but there are many countries where these machines are not allowed at all.

Another part of the bill allows small lotteries, raffles or sweepstakes to be held and small gambling games at fetes and other entertainments if permission is first obtained from the District Commissioner. No one is allowed to make a profit for himself by running lotteries or games of this kind and all the profits must be spent on prizes or given to some charity such as the Red Cross Society.

This proposed new law is the same as the latest law in England.