“BRITAIN GOES GAMBLING MAD.”

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18468, 21 May 1928, Page 3

“BRITAIN GOES GAMBLING MAD.”

FRANCS CASE BROUGHT RUIN TO LEADING MEN. BIG SUMS LOST EVERY NIGHT AT CARD GAMES. LONDON, March 1. What is known as the “ francs case ” has ended, so far as the men in it are concerned, with the virtual ruin of the senior offender. Mr J. D. Gregory. C. 8., C.M.G. (who, having been dismissed from the Civil Service, forfeits his pensions rights), the compulsory resignation of Mr O’Malley, C.M.G., and the forfeiture of seniority by LieutenantCommander Maxse. It was their bad luck to be named in an action for a large sum of money brought against a Mrs Dyne, who some years ago, when the French franc was fluctuating, lost the whole of her fortune and many thousands besides in a form of gambling which was then fashionable (says a Press correspondent). They were all in the Foreign Office (Mr Gregory was an Assistant Undersecretary), and they used to meet at Mrs Dyne’s house for the purpose of advising her in the business of dealing in foreign currency on forward contracts. Also, it may be presumed, for the purpose of discussing their own speculations in the same line. It came out in evidence that Mr Gregory had made and lost millions of francs in this way, though his salary was only about £I2OO a year, and though he is not a moneyed man. Mon*y in the Book. The method of currency gambling, as described by a banker, is simple. The customer writes, “ Please buy me £IOOO worth of francs for delivery in three months’ time,” and pays in £IOO as a deposit. The franc is at 150 to the pound. In three months the bank has to deliver 150,000 francs, and, theoretically, the customer has to pay £IOOO for them. In practice the difference is debited or credited to him, as the case may be. If the franc has gone back to 200 to the pound, the customer’s francs are only worth £7500, and he loses £250; if the franc has advanced to 130, the 150,000 are worth £1153, and the speculator has made £153. In the spring of .1926, the French franc was staggering about in the neighbourhood of 145 to the pound, and I was astonished to find that acquaintances of very humble financial standing were dealing on these lines in colossal sums. French Annoyance. The French knew all about it, and were naturally annoyed, and their papers often suggested that Foreign Office servants were using their special knowledge to make money out of France’s difficulties. That is why such an example has been made of Mr Gregory, whose only crime, after all, was that he did whatmillions of other Englishmen do as a matter of habit, namely, gambled heavily. Bankers say that the real significance of the “ Francs case ” is neither a matter of cleansing the Civil Service of undesirables (no one but a lunatic imagines that the three who chance to have been found out are the only offenders), nor of placating France, who, in fact, is enraged at this proof that her worst suspicions of a few years ago have been shown to be true. They claim that the much graver scandals which the case has emphasised are the inadequacy of most of the salaries paid by the State (not only to its 300,000 Civil Servants, but to judges,' Anglican clergymen, senior officers in both services, and. others), and the resulting tendency among many unfprtunates, who have to “ keep up a position.” to make up the deficiency by gambling. Britain’s Worst Vice. There is no doubt that gambling is Britain’s premier vice at the present time. It is doubtful if such a phenomenon has been witnessed before .anywhere—that is the phenomenon of practically all classes gambling, and. in many cases, gambling beyond their means. The newspaper reports on the subject about balance—the made appear on the one hand, the unmade on the other. Tn to-night’s paper one item tells of “ an Englishman at present on holiday in the Riviera, who has won over £12,000 in three nights at baccarat,” while a neighbouring item reveals that another Flnglishman has lost £15.000 “by gambling at cards £5000: on betting and horse racing £10.000.” I could go to three different houses within half a mile of where I live in London, and lose or win a thousand pounds in a night—if I had that sum to lose or win.

Bis Bridge Bets. A bridge-playing friend, in a £IOOO a year job, went out to dinner the other night, and found in the nick of time that he was being allocated a £lo-a-hundred table. He excused himself on the ground of illness, and w-ent home feeling genuinely ill—with panic. An explanation of this state of affairs which seems plausible is the extraordinary discrepancy between incomes in Britain, and the determination of most of the inhabitants to maintain as high a standard of living as possible.

Mr Gregory, whose career came to an end yesterday, had on £I2OO a year to keep up a house in the West End, support a wife and family, entertain visiting foreigners of distinction (though he had 'no entertainment allowance) and belong to the King’s club—the Marlborough. There are thousands like him, and » they are in constant association with business men and others who can spend more in a week without feeling it than they can spend, out of their legitimate incomes, in a year. Does Not Ruin Nations. llow the situation is going to work out, with more money continually coming to the very rich, with the financial status of the others remaining unaltered or deteriorating, and with the national standard of comfort ever rising, no one seems to know. But “every competent observer agrees that the outlook is ominous. About the most optimistic opinion I have heard on the subject is that no nation was ever overthrown by gambling. And, indeed, it is a fact that, among all the countless reasons given to account for the fall of ancient Rome, ranging from free-trade and State Socialism to a domestic service problem, no one seems to have thought of including gambling.