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BETTING METHODS IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES. England Frowns on Street Betting France Takes Tax from All Wagers Made at Courses. Every country in which horse racing is carried on- has adopted some form of legislation for controlling race course betting. Outside of America the great horse racing countries of the world are England, France, the Australian Commonwealth, and. the Argentine Republic. Since the opening of the Bennings meeting a good deal has been heard of the English system of betting. In that country there are many ways of wagering on horse races, and although the law against gambling is strictly enforced away from the track, considerable latitude is allowed on race courses. There the bookmaker bets for cash with those clients whom he does not know or knows too well, issuing a ticket :iu precisely the, same manner as is done on western tracks here. The bulk of the betting transacted an "Tattersalls ring" as the betting enclosure, in the grandstand on English courses is termed, is done on credit, In the Leger stand, or "silver ring," as it is colloquially called, -which answers to the American "field, it Is almost entirely conducted on a cash basis. Every bookmaker in "Tattersalls ring" and nesirly every racing man of any prominence belougs to one or other of the big betting clubs in Loudon, or the Manchester subscription rooms, an institu-tiif or similar nature. The principal London betting club is the Victoria, in Wellington street, just off that famous thoroughfare, the Strand. At these chilis the betting on future events, which is not indulged in nowadays to the extent it was in rogue some years ago, is carried on, and they do duty as turf clearing houses. The settlement of accounts between the bookmakers and their clients on the previous weeks racing takes place at these clubs every Monday morning. In the ring at Newmarket there is no walking about by the bookmakers. The principal operators, the "big men" as they are termed, range themselves along the rail which divides the betting ring from the club enclosure so that the bookmaker can thus bet "over the rails" to members and to the general public In the grandstand. The others take up positions in different parts of the ring. It is not customary for the bookmakers in the big ring to attire themselves in any outre or eye-catching fashion though this practice Is done to some extent in the Leger stand and still more so by the layers in the field. The relations between bookmaker and backer being based oh credit, an introduction Is necessary before business can .le transacted by a stranger, -though through stress of competition and the desire of the layers to do all the business they can this is not difficult to obtain, and Is not infrequently abused. When the late R. H. Fry. "the leviathan" bookmaker, died in England lie was supposed to have been a millionaire, but his will was sworn to at only 00,000. Fry owned something like ,000,000 at the time of his death, and many amusing stories are told of the difficulty he sometimes experienced in remembering the names of some individual who came up and proffered to pay off a debt contracted years previously. The English bookmaker lias to allow for a considerable percentage of bad debts. The "starting price" or track odds system of betting on horses is one which is very popular in England. This is based entirely on credit, references being exchanged by bookmakers and client and settlement is effected by check every Monday. The law forbids the acceptance of cash aud to evade this several large bookmaking firms have their headquarters in Flushing, Holland, where they can receive letters enclosing money on the morning of the race day, that are posted over night in England. They had their offices at Boulogne, in France, until the French authorities forced them to leave the country. At the present time there is a bill before the English parliament termed the street betting bill, the object of which Is to more effectually suppress the handbook men. or their agents, who collect small sums from workmen and others. These agents make it their business, to frequent the neighborhood of factories at lunch hour and do considerable business in the aggregate. The legitimate credit system of backing horses at the starting price is conducted by wire and the telegraph must bear the official time mark an hour, and a half hour, or any time prior to the scheduled starting time of the race according to the conditions laid down by the bookmaker with which Ids client is acquainted. The size of the commission to be placed is generally a factor in this respect. A large sum can be placed in different parts of England simultaneously at starting price, and the greater part of the money won-by John A. Drake when his Royal Flush won the Stewards Cup was got on in this way. In France the liookinkAr cannot. v accent cash and settlement is effected on all wagers made during the day after the last rac, except those made by well-known commissioners and big betiors, which are generally settled at the track on Sunday, prior to starting a fresh weeks racing, or at the Salon des Courses, the Paris betting club. Thus! one days credit is all that the ordinary bettor can obtain in France, where the mutual system Is officially sanctioned by the government. The uiutnals are a source of great revenue to the French racing clubs, who, however, receive only 2 per cent, out of the 7 per cent, commission deducted from the winning through the machine. The other 5 per cent, is divided into four portions of one and a quarter each, one to the charities, who are thus largely benefited, one to the Society for the encouragement of breeding horses, one for rent to the municipality of Paris, Longchamps and Autueil courses being part of the park, Bois de Boulogne, md the remaining faction covers the expense, clerical staff, etc., of running the machine. The mutual system is practically the only form of wagering on horse races that obtains throughout continental Europe. Of the six states which form the Australian commonwealth three of the minor ones, Queensland, Western Australia and Tasmania allow bookmaking for cash or credit, but the mutual machine,, called there ""the totalisator," is the principal betting .nedium for the general public. In South Australia oookmaklng is prohibited by law and the machine July is allowed. In the two principal states, New South Wales and Victoria, bookmakers ply their vocation in the English fashion for cash or credit jnder the elm tree in a paddock between the grandstand and the saddling paddock. Betting is strictly prohibited in grandstand or on lawn In front of It. The Australian law expressly forbids establishing my "place" for the purpose of gambling, and consequently the bookmaker cannot fix any location by so much as sticking his umbrella or cane in the turf. It was on one occasion held that a hook-maker was violating the statute by wearing abnormally high-heeled shoes, which raised him head ind shoulders above the crowd. The club detective Invited him to return to earth. In Melbourne, the capital city of Victoria, where the fatuous Melbourne Cup is run early in November, there is a very handsome building in the principal street occupied by the Victoria Belting Club, to .vhich the majority of bookmakers aud a large num-Jer of the race-going public belong. Betting on -uture events is carried on there between club members and settlement Of accounts is made every -Monday. At one time the credit system prevailed ill over Australia, till cash betting was introduced .n that country by It. S. Slever, the one-time owner of the famous mare Sceptre, who is now editor of an English sporting weekly called "The Winning Post." Siever made book In Australia under the name of "Bob Sutton." The Victoria Racing Club, which governs the conduct of racing throughout the state, licenses the bookmakers, charging a fee of 250 per annum, and the words "Licensed by V. R. C." on their satchels is a guarantee to bettors of their responsibility; nltout two hundred bookmakers are licensed by the V. It. C. The plan of compelling ..hem to wear a badge oil the arm," something like in American policemans shield, was once suggested, jut the. idea was resented, by the bookmakers and uhe matter dropped. , In Sydney, the capital city of New South Wales, the Australian Jockey Club adopts - the same policy of licensing bookmakers. In both states the laws prohibiting gambling on horse racing away, from the track are very stringent, and quite recently a fresh enactment which was made in this connection by the parliament of New South Wales, was instigated by the A. J. C. and met with the approval of all classes, including the clergy. As in England, the sentiment throughout Australia is in favor of making a decided distinction between wagering on the race course and gambling away from It. The Victoria Racing Club has a. membership of nearly four thousand, who pay a yearly subscription of 5 each, and is independent of any income from betting. The Australian Jockey Club is similarly constituted. In the Argentines on all three of the race courses in Buenos Ayres the mutual machine, "El Sport," as it Is termed, is the sole medium for betting on the races. Bookmakers are unknown and when a good many years ago a few English ones went to Buenos Ayres the Argentine stewards placed them in wire enclosures closely approaching cages. In New Zealand, the most paternally governed country in the world, and where the mighty Carbine was bred, the bookmaker is as extinct as the dodo, but the speculative public can get all the excitement it wants on the numerous race, -courses in that country through the "totalisator." Jail awaits the man who makes a book in New Zealand.
