These were generous supporters of our Cause , and in the industrial depression of the past year it has not been possible to fill their places .sx The League regrets also to record the passing of two of their old Vice-Presidents - the Rev. Dr. F. B. Meyer and Mr. F. A. Atkins .sx The latter , in conjunction with the late Rev. Hugh Price Hughes , assisted Mr. John Hawke ( who is happily still with us ) in founding the League .sx PROPAGANDA .sx We are pleased to report most encouraging signs of a growing interest in the work of the League , not only throughout England , Scotland , Wales and Ireland , but also in places as far distant as Baghdad , South Africa , Australia , and Japan .sx The subject is now being dealt with by " C.E.M.S. , " " Y.M.C.A.'s , " Temperance Societies , Guilds , Sunday Schools , Social Service Unions and other organisations .sx Meetings , Conferences and Debates of an interesting and helpful nature have been held during the past year .sx These include Diocesan Conferences at Winchester and Blackburn , a Ruri-decanal Conference at Leicester , " C.E.M.S. " Conferences at Lytham , and Nottingham , a Wesleyan Methodist Social Service Conference at High Leigh .sx Meetings at York ( Council of Christian Churches ) , Yeovil , Swansea , Plymouth , Purley , Luton , Stafford , Bramhall , Bury-St .sx -Edmunds , and in London ( Essex Hall , Clapton , &c .sx ) , including a meeting in Wandsworth Prison , .sx addressed by our Honorary Secretary , Mr. Gulland .sx In addition to the Honorary Secretary , valued help has been rendered by the following speakers , viz .sx , Rev. Canon Peter Green , the Rev. Jas .sx Glass , the Rev. H. A. Eyton-Jones , M.A. , the Rev. James Barr , M.P. , the Rev. E. B. Perkins , the Rev. T. Hayward , and Mrs. Louise B. Swann of Bristol .sx The subject has also been dealt with in Sheffield , Shrewsbury , Cambridge , Scarborough , Hoylake , Worthing , Halifax , Liverpool , Tunstall , Bristol , Newbury , Newcastle-on-Tyne , Rotherham , Batley , Darlington , Neath , Blackpool , Sails- .sx bury , Darwen , Accrington , Beacontree , Keighley and other places .sx In connection with the Swansea Campaign over 10,000 of the League's pamphlets were circulated .sx The Baptist Young People's Department , under the direction of the Rev. Dr. Dunning , is taking up the subject ; also the North Wales Temperance Federation , under the Rev. J. Glyn Davies .sx The Secretary of the Lancashire Sunday School Union is keeping the subject before its Branches .sx The Moderator of the Montgomery and Salop Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church of Wales has directed the attention of the Presbytery to the subject of betting and gambling , and the North Wales Band of Hope Union has a Lantern Lecture on the subject .sx The Dublin Branch of the " World Women's Temperance Council " propose forming an Anti-Gambling Department , and the Rector of Clones ( Ireland ) hopes to form a Branch of our League in his district .sx A number of the League's pamphlets have been ordered by the Sabbath School Society of Northern Ireland and also by the Women's Temperance Union of South Africa .sx Free grants of literature have been made to various organisations during the year , including agents in charge of Mission Vans , and our old friend , Mr. Alfred Butlin , still devotes his spare time to the distribution of the League's pamphlets .sx During the past few years he has distributed many thousands .sx His valued help is much appreciated .sx Copies of the League's publications have also been sent to Japan , through the London Embassy , for use in the Government Library of that country .sx The Manchester Committee has appointed Miss M. Lennard as its Secretary in succession to the Rev. John Heath .sx Miss Lennard is keenly interested in this question , and has recently published a pamphlet containing lessons on the subject for the use of Sunday School workers and others .sx The subject has been dealt with in a new monthly magazine , the " Controversialist , " by Mr. Gulland .sx The Scottish League has celebrated its first anniversary , and its energetic Secretary , the Rev. F. E. Watson , is rendering great service in combating the gambling evil throughout Scotland .sx The Renfrewshire Education Authority issues a letter to every boy and girl on leaving school , in which , among other things , they are urged never to bet or gamble .sx NEW OFFICERS OF THE LEAGUE .sx The League welcomes as new Vice-Presidents the recently appointed Bishop of Chelmsford and the Rev. M. E. Aubrey , M.A. , Secretary of the Baptist Union of Great Britain and Ireland , and successor of the late Rev. Dr. Shakespeare .sx CO-OPERATION WITH OTHER ORGANISATIONS .sx The Organisations with which the League has been associated during the year and assisted in various ways are as follows :sx GREYHOUND RACING .sx In the last Report it was stated that Colonel Buchan's Bill to give local authorities power to control Greyhound Racing Tracks had passed its second reading by an overwhelming majority in the House of Commons .sx To the disappointment of the supporters of this Bill , the Government could not see their way to grant facilities for its passage into law , and it lapsed .sx While this " new gambling " may have declined somewhat in popularity , it still has an attraction for large numbers of persons who continue to visit these " Canine Casinos " and patronise this so-called sport chiefly for the easy facilities afforded for betting .sx THE TOTALISATOR .sx Although the Government could not grant facilities for the passing of Colonel Buchan's Dog Racing Bill , time was found to pass the " Race Course Betting Act .sx " This Act declares that the Betting Act , 1853 , shall not apply to horse race-courses , and legalises the use of Totalisators for betting on such racecourses .sx This Act also sets up a Racecourse Betting Control Board , the members of which are appointed by the Home Secretary , Secretary for Scotland , Minister of Agriculture , Chancellor of the Exchequer , certain Racing Associations , and the Committee of Tattersalls .sx The functions of this Board are , the approval of racecourses on which the Totalisator may be used , the provisions for bookmakers at such racecourses , and the distribution of the bets staked with the Totalisator .sx The profits on the Totalisator are to be applied to the improvement of horse breeding , or the sport of horse racing .sx THE BETTING TAX .sx The Chancellor of the Exchequer ( Mr. Winston Churchill ) announced in his Budget speech that the tax on betting turn-over had proved a failure , and would be repealed .sx He pro-posed to retain , however , the Bookmakers' licence fee , with an additional tax of 40 on each telephone used by the book-maker , and one-half per cent .sx of the Totalisator takings .sx ( Since this Report was written , Mr. Philip Snowden , who succeeded Mr. Churchill as Chancellor , has announced in the House of Commons that he intends to drop all these proposals .sx ) LEGAL DECISIONS .sx Some interesting legal decisions have been given during the year .sx The net result is to add still further confusion and complexity to the intricate mass of law on betting and gambling .sx The time has long been ripe for a consolidation of the whole law on gambling .sx FOOTBALL COUPON COMPETITIONS .sx In the King's Bench Divisional Court on the 21st November , 1928 , Football Coupon Competitions by newspapers were held to be contraventions of the Ready Money Football Betting Act , 1922 , and the appeal of the' proprietors of the " Sheffield Daily Telegraph " against their conviction at the Sheffield Police Court was dismissed .sx Following this decision , Major Braithwaite , M.P. , introduced a Bill into the House of Commons to make such competitions legal .sx The Bill received a first reading , but went no further .sx ENTRY FEES FOR RACE HORSES .sx In the Court of Appeal on February 5th , 1929 , in a friendly test action between the Jockey Club and Mr. Edgar Wallace , as to whether entry fees for horses that , in the event , did not run could be recovered as a debt , it was decided that the payment of entry fees did not constitute a gaming transaction and they were therefore recoverable .sx BETTING IN CLUBS .sx On 4th March , 1929 , the House of Lords upheld a decision of the Court of Appeal that a club is not liable to pay betting tax on the transactions by its members on the club's Totalisator , and dismissed with costs the Crown's appeal against the decision of the Court of Appeal on the question of the liability of the Luncheon Sports Club , Ltd. , to pay betting tax in respect of transactions with its members at the Stadium Club , High Holborn , in connection with a Totalisator installed there .sx This decision raises an interesting point in connection with betting in clubs .sx It has previously been held that , while members of a club may bet with one another without rendering the club liable to prosecution under the Betting Acts , it has also been held by the Courts that if a particular part of the premises of the club is set apart for the special purpose of betting , the part so set aside becomes a " place " within the meaning of the Betting Act , 1853 .sx In this particular case there could be no dubiety about the fixed nature of the place at which the members of the club resorted for the purpose of betting .sx It was at the place where the totalisator was set up .sx The logical conclusion would appear to be that , although the club might not be liable under the Betting Duty Act , they were committing an infringement of the Betting Act , 1853 .sx WHIST DRIVES .sx " Whist drives are clearly against the law , and no jury would be doing their duty who did not find the persons charged as guilty of keeping a common gaming house .sx " This is an extract from the decision of the Recorder of Liverpool on 24th May , 1929 , in imposing fines of 5 to 20 on fifteen officials of a Whist and Social Club for assisting to run whist drives contrary to the Gaming Laws .sx Despite decisions of the Law Courts in 1912 and 1928 about the illegality of whist drives , they continue to flourish .sx That is because , as the Home Secretary has stated several times in the .sx House of Commons , the Metropolitan Police have been advised not to prosecute except in cases where real harm is being done to the community .sx A Court consisting of Lord Hewart ( Lord Chief Justice ) , Mr. Justice Avory and Mr. Justice Shearman held in May , 1928 , that a whist drive with entrance fees and prizes contravened the Betting Act of 1853 .sx After this decision of 1928 , the Home Secretary said that he had discussed the effect of it with the Lord Chief Justice and understood that it re-affirmed the interpretation of the law laid down sixteen years previously .sx Any amendment of the law would involve very difficult considerations .sx Dealing with the matter in 1912 , Lord Alverstone , the then Lord Chief Justice , said that progressive whist was a game of chance !sx and skill in which the element of skill was so small that it had to be disregarded .sx NEW LEGISLATION .sx Several States in the world have been trying their hand at regulating or prohibiting betting and gambling- .sx THE ISLE OF MAN .sx The House of Keys has passed an Act prohibiting all betting in the Isle of Man , the Belle Vue Race Course being exempt for a period of three years from its operation .sx The Bill prohibits credit betting by telephone , telegraph or letter , either on horse racing or football .sx This shows what can be clone when public opinion is roused against the spreading evils of betting .sx NORTHERN IRELAND .sx The Premier of the Ulster Parliament received an influential deputation who urged the enforcement of the Betting Laws in Northern Ireland , and asked for facilities for further legislation of a restrictive character .sx IRISH FREE STATE .sx In the last Report reference was made to the legalising of cash betting in the Irish Free State .sx As a result , hundreds of betting offices have been established throughout Southern Ire-land , and in Dublin at least 200 have been opened .sx Many of the Dublin offices are crowded during the mornings and afternoons , mainly by working-class people , including women , and even children are not excluded .sx The bets range from 6d .sx upwards , and some of them bet on race after race , remaining at the bookmaker's counter until their money has come to an end .sx When the racing season is in full swing the crowds at the betting offices often impede the progress of the vehicular traffic , while pedestrians have to step into the roadway in order to pass the crowds which have congregated .sx