11 JUNE 1910, Page 15

VTO THE EDITOR OP TUE "SPECTATOR.")

Sin,—Yott hardly make the best of the case against the Star. Many papers publish tips ; not another one directly incites to gambling. The following paragraph appeared last November shortly after the purchase by the Cadburys. A similar para- graph appeared daily for weeks either in November or December :—

"‘ Mine would have won in a canter if he had only stood up !' How often do we hear something like this at steesplechase meetings ? And how often is the accident brought about through the horse being only half fit. Follow Coe throughout the winter if you want to pack up a parcel."

As regards the Daily News, it is interesting to recall its leader on the Liverpool bank fraud case, February 24th, 1902 :—

"To speak for a moment of our own attitude on this question, we would say that we have not had to wait long for a complete justifica- tion of our action, which we admit or rather claim to have been uncompromising. We have refused to publish in those columns information or news of any kind, which might lead to our assisting, however slightly,in the traffic of waste and greed which has grown up in connection with the turf. We have done so with the con- viction that, if our example were followed, the principal apparatus of this kind of gambling would be destroyed. If our course of action should lead Liberals to give earnest attention to this, one of the greatest and most pressing social questions, we shall esteem our- selves successful ; for we can feel no doubt as to the conclusions which any good citizen must come to who seriously considers the subject."

LAnd yet the Daily News in its corporate capacity is a large shareholder in the Star, its proprietors hold shares, so do two of its officials, and one of its directors is also a director of the Star.—En. Spectator.]