LIBERAL M.P.S' BETS.

Clutha Leader, Volume XL, Issue 82, 24 April 1914, Page 3

LIBERAL M.P.S' BETS.

DAMAGE TO CONSCIENCE. -•Had--.a Bill to prohibit .betting on -election results been.introduced- into tha j House of Commons yesterday it would' have found an extraordinary"numlber of Liberal supporters (stated 'The Daily Mail' of February 21). : Their zeal for reform was due to a -mood of unhappy penitence. They were realising in sorrow tlie folly of fin. ; Some time about nine o'clock on f Thursday evening, the poll at Bethnal Green closed, some dark tip as f to the result inspired the Liberals with - great optimism. Perhaps -some tipster in the 'Bethnal Green stable sent them" a one-horse wiro- straight, as spoirting writers have it, from the horse's mouth, lhe fe-p wa.s- "Masterman." Accordingly Liberals set • out on a huwfc for Unioiiiist pigeons. "Would anyone lik,e to bade Wilson-?" they inMcently inquired. Of course the -re-, suit was a very open question, and' un-o-er the circumstances they would accept "evens" about Mas-teirman's chance. A Coatl Thing, Unionist sportsmen expressed a natural surprise that Liberals y'jouicl know the jargon of the betting ring, but, hailing their conve:s:on as a sign of grace, proceeded very readily to make t-ho bets. Altogether there -was a record number of wagers on the, ekction. Liberals smiled ibappily.. a-s merc' who are on a good thing. - Two hours later—when, the result <; ; f the election was declared—their oc.n-r.ciGiie-es reawoke. One Liberal Who lost £IS." 1-he Ivatioualists, who are shreiwdeT judges erf "form," arc troubled 'by no scruples of 'conscience. They put their money on Wilson, explaining -that they would be. 'solaced any way—chewed- by a- victory if Ma-ster-man wtn and c&eered by the money if he 10-st. On the whole they bore up very well under the Liberal defeat.