Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 3.djvu/637

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&quot; Backing &quot; is a very plain matter, Lut in the long-run invariably a losing method of betting. It simply consists in taking the odds laid by a bookmaker against one or more starters for any event. If it be a play or pay event, and the possible starter be scratched, the backer loses his money at once. Although a backer may become possessed of such special information as may enable him to win large sums occasionally, his losses will in the long-run exceed them. In fact, the bookmaker virtually keeps a bank against him. &quot; Hedging &quot; consists in laying off at shorter odds part of the sums various starters may have been backed for. Thus, a backer has taken 50 to 1 about A, B, and C respectively for a play or pay event some time before the date fixed for the contest. A turns out a non- starter, so there is a certain loss of 1. At starting the odds have come down to say 2 to 1 against B, and 3 to 1 against C. So the backer lays 50 to 25 against B, and 50 to 16, 13s. 4d. against C. If neither wins he receives 41, 13s. 4d., out of which he has to pay 3 to the bookmaker, leaving a profit of 38, 13s. 4d. Should B win he receives 50 from the bookmaker, and 1G, 13s. 4d. on account of C s defeat, out of which he has to pay 2 to the bookmaker on account of A and C, and the 50 he has laid against B, so the profit left is 14, 13s. 4d. Should C win, the hedger receives 50 from the bookmaker, and 25 on account of B s defeat, out of which he has still to pay the bookmaker 2 on account of A and B, and the 50 he has laid against C, so the profit left is 23. The only events that are now play or pay are the Derby, Oaks, St Leger, Two Thousand Guineas, One Thousand Guineas, Cesarewitch, and Cambridgeshire Stakes, the Ascot, Goodwood, and Doncaster Cups, and all handicaps above 200 value, with two forfeits, the minor whereof is not less than 5. In all other betting the backer is entitled to a start for his money, unless the contrary is stipulated at the time the bet is made. In the United Kingdom betting has been the source of considerable legislation during the past thirty years. Curiously enough, by the 9th of Queen Anne, if any one gained over 10 by betting, the loser was entitled to pursue for repayment of the stake if he had paid it, and if he did not do so within three months any one might sue for treble the amount with costs. After it had become a dead letter some informers raked up this Act in 1844, and the result was the insertion of a clause in the Gaming Act, 8 and 9 Viet. c. 109, annulling the old statute. Dur ing the next seven years betting on horse races increased to an enormous extent. &quot; List shops,&quot; where the proprietors kept a bank against all comers, and backers could stake their money in advance on a horse, sprung up in the metropolis and large towns, leading to many acts of flagrant dishonesty. Sir Alexander Cockburn, then attorney-general, accordingly introduced the Betting Houses Act, 16 and 17 Viet. c. 119, whereby all houses or places kept for such purposes were brought under the above-mentioned Gaming Act, and might be proceeded against as a common nuisance and contrary to law, heavy penalties being incurred by the owners, occupiers, or advertisers of such houses or places. Betting on race-courses, or at Tattersall s and similar private clubs, where money is not received in advance, was not meant to be interfered with. For some time this legislation had the desired effect till attempts were made to evade it by receiving money through the post. These were successful till the summer of 1869, when the Government suddenly bestirred itself, and several prosecutions took place. As the Act, however, did not extend to Scotland, the betting- house keepers removed there or went abroad, and their adver tisements at such addresses were still legal. This led to 37 Viet, c. 14, extending 16 and 17 Viet. c. 119 to Scotland, and making all advertisements of betting-houses, whether in or out of the United Kingdom, illegal. It came into force on 31st July 1874, and almost exterminated the receiving of money in advance, especially as it is now enforced very strictly. In 1866 a system of betting, termed Paris mutuels, was started in France. It consisted of agencies where any one may back a probable starter for any sum or sums he pleases. The whole of the money thus staked on all starters is added together, a commission deducted by the agent for his trouble, and the balance divided in &quot; equal shares,&quot; or Paris mutuels, amongst those who have backed the victor. In this instance the agent s gain is, of course, certain. It has been found, however, that unlicensed opportunities of staking money in advance have produced the same evils in France as in England. During the past three years the French Government have taken the matter up strongly, and betting-houses and agencies are now as effectually doomed on the French as on the English side of the Channel. In the United States betting is also illegal. Under the Gambling Act, whenever any money has been staked for a bet, either side can sue the stakeholder and recover his portion of the money, either before or after the bet has been decided. Owing, however, to the strong public sentiment which naturally condemns such a course, proceedings against stakeholders are excessively rare. Any voter betting on the result of an election forfeits his franchise, yet the heaviest betting in the States is on elections, and the betters go unchallenged to the poll.  BETUL, a hilly district of British India, in the Central Provinces, comprising the westernmost section of the great Satpurd plateau, situated between 21 20 and 22 35 N. lat, and 77 20 and 78 35 E. long. It is bounded on the N. by the Hoshangabdd district and the Makrai enitory, on the E. by the district of Chhindwdra, on the S. )y the commissionership of West Berars, and on the W. by he district of Hoshangabdd. The area is about 4118 square miles; the population, as ascertained by the census of 1866, 258,335. In 1872 the population had increased to 284,055, of whom 168,788 were Hindus, 4555 Mahometans, 937 Buddhists and Jains, 19 Christians, and 109,756 aborigines; copulation, 69 per square mile. The mean elevation of he district above the sea is about 2000 feet. The country is essentially a highland tract, divided naturally into three [istinct portions, differing in their superficial aspects, the haracter of their soil, and their geological formation. The lorthern part of the district forms an irregular plain of the andstone formation. It is a well-wooded tract, in many &amp;gt;laces stretching out in charming glades like an English 