APPENDICES
I
LORDS’ RECOMMENDATIONS
The Select Committee appointed to inquire into the increase of public betting amongst all classes, and whether any legislative measures were possible and expedient for checking the abuses occasioned thereby, reported as follows in June 1902:—
1. After hearing much evidence, the Committee are of opinion that betting is generally prevalent in the United Kingdom, and that the practice of betting has increased considerably of late years especially amongst the working classes, whilst, on the other hand, the habit of making large bets, which used at one time to be the fashion amongst owners and breeders of horses, has greatly diminished. Betting is not confined to horse-racing, but is also prevalent at athletic meetings and football matches.
2. Various suggestions have been made to the Committee in explanation of the alleged spread of betting. It has been urged that the increase in the practice is only proportional to the growth and increased prosperity of the industrial population of the country, and that the operation of the Betting Houses Act, by driving bookmakers into the streets, has brought their business more to the notice of Magistrates.