23 NOVEMBER 1872, Page 2

The Police have made a grand raid upon the professional

betting men. Three hundred of them were arrested at three " clubs " in the City, and after a careful weeding the police decided to prosecute about sixty. They were all admitted to bail,. and will be heard before the Lord Mayor to-day. The moral case, as against those who keep betting houses, is clear, their position

being that of the bankers in a gaming house, but as against the betters we should like to see justice a little more even-handed. The lawyers draw many technical distinctions, but still the broad facts remain that the rich bet and are unpunished, and the poor bet and are sent to prison. The doctrine that a man may legally do an act which he may not tempt another to do does not apply, for the peer who offers a bet does tempt others just as much as the regular betting man. The fault is not with Government, we believe, which has always tried to be fair, but with the House of Commons, which will not pass the necessary law.