THE POOLS RAMP

By GRAHAM WATSON

AT a recent Production Conference at Walthamstow, attended by the Minister of Labour, Mr. Isaacs, an ex-Serviceman was reported as having told the meeting that " when he, and several others.

recently demobilised, went to an Employment Exchange they were offered jobs canvassing for football pools." In view of the reputed shortage of labour for productive industry this statement, even as an isolated example of Ministerial muddle, makes curious reading.

In fact, it is not an isolated example. Only two other instances of what appears to be a widespread practice ,need be quoted ; an un- employed plumber at Ipswich and a girl in Portsmouth were both offered similar means of livelihood by their local Employment Ex- changes, the job at Ipswich being considered to be worth £4 a week and that at Portsmouth £9 a week, including commission. As an outcome of these offers representations were made to the Ministry of Labour, who replied to the effect that there was nothing illegal about the proposals—which is not a matter of dispute—and that, if the jobs were not filled by applicants from the Exchanges they would be filled in some other way—which is not, regrettably, in doubt. For canvassing plays an important part in obtaining new subscribers to the football pools, although there are, let it be said to their credit, a few well-known firms who do not use this method. Those who do use it adopt several means of remunerating the canvasser, most com-

monly a small lump sum for each new enrolment, sometimes a commission of 20 per cent. or 25 per cent. of the value of the order for a limited period.

In addition to the canvasser there is the agent. His task is to act as middle-man. Usually he is a lift-attendant, a milkman, a shop-keeper or some person whose duty brings him into daily con- tact with a large number of people, and he acts as a clearing-house for his clientele. His is the labour of collecting the coupons, buying the postal orders, mailing the entry forms. For these services he is

paid a commission of to per cent. on his gross turnover. His job in the organisation is unimpressive, but he is useful because many

people are too idle to buy their own postal orders or send off their own entries. (It will be appreciated that football-pool competitions do not attract a particularly spirited section of the public.) The expenses of these satellites present no problem to the pool promoter, because expenses are deducted on a fixed percentage before divi- dends are paid—thus cunningly eliminating any chance of the pro- moter sharing the usual experience of his clients by making a loss— and the figure is thus sufficiently elastic to meet these additional comnaments. Most firms belong to the Football Pool Promoters Association, and their accounts are strictly audited. From their gross turnover (a singularly apt metaphor) 15 per cent. is deducted for expenses and 5 per cent. for profit. In other words, out of every £too received by the promoters only £80 is distributed to the winning competitors. Other industries 'may well be envious of an arrangement where not only the expenses but also the profit are guaranteed.

It is difficult to arrive at any accurate assessment of the amount of money contributed by the public to the pools. The promoters are curiously silent on the subject. But one method which is a fairly reliable guide is to examine the figures for the issue of postal orders to the public. The Postmaster-General, in answer to a question in Parliament, stated that the proportion of postal orders issued for the purpose of the pools was a little over 4o per cent. of the total. There is reason to believe that this estimate was based on the business done by the big firms and took no account of the scores of small

promoters. Probably not be an over-estimate to work on an assumption of 5o per cent. Here are the figures : Year. Number of Orders. Total Value. Average Value.

s. d.

1938-39 ... 422,527,000 103,960,000 ... 4 1 I 1939-40 ... 287,926,000 ... 80,186,000 ... 5 61 1940-41 ... 206,712,000 ... 64,480,000 ... 6 2 1941-42

... 197,579,000 ...

64,791,000 ... 6 61 1942-43 ... 195,004,000 ... 67,772,000 ... 6 1943-44 ... 200,030000 71,482,000 ... 7 II 1944-45 ... 213,366,000 ... 83,102,000 ... 7 91 1944-45 is the last year for which full statistics are available. But the following figures for 1945 are interesting. The approximate totals of postal orders supplied to post offices throughout the United Kingdom during this year were 14,000,000 in July and 38,000,000 in November—the peak month. Considering the implications of the table it is plain that during the war years there were so many factors irrelevant to this problem which affect the figures that the only safe comparison is with the year 1938-39. This shows that approximately £So,000,000 was subscribed annually to the pools, or considerably more than £i,000poo a week when it is remembered that the football season is one of only nine months (a fact which must be depressing to the ambitious promoter). The entry showing the average value of each postal order effectively destroys the old myth that most people only spend a nimble sixpence on their efforts.

Equally revealing is an examination of the dividends paid by the pools to the fortunate winners. Again, for a fair comparison, it is necessary to return to the year 1938-39. Into one of the better- known Penny Points Pools over 24,000,000 pennies were subscribed every week, and on one occasion a total of £1o8,66o was staked in this one pool. It is not, perhaps, surprising that over £3o,00o was paid on several occasions for a stake of one penny. Such sums, of course, are paid to only one winner out of the hundreds of thousands competing, but as there are 4,782,969 possible alternatives it is idle to pretend that skill plays any important part in selecting the winning teams. Although the national Press fill their columns with the free advice of professional tipsters it is evidently a case of the blind leading' the blind—notoriously an unproductive exercise.

An industry which has a gross annual turnover of £5o,000,000 is a force to be reckoned with. From this figure it is estimated that the promoters deduct about £7,5oo,000 for expenses and a further £2,50o,00o for commission, a total of £to,000,000. What effect does the expenditure of this money have on the. well-being of the country? In the last year before the war 65 firms advertised a total of about 450 pools every week in the national Press at an aggregate annual cost of over £Soo,000. Obviously, as a result, the majority of the leading newspapers have a valuable vested interest in the continua- tion of the pools. Then a number of pool-promoters have now started mail-order and chain-store businesses. It is unnecessary to emphasise the advantages that such businesses possess over their competitors. Pool-profits provide them with cheap money ; their mailing-lists are ready-made and the posting of pool-coupons pro- vides free postage for their circulars ; goodwill is established by the distribution of large pool-dividends. (Even to hear of somebody winning £3o,00o creates a feeling of good-fellowship.) It is easy to understand the resentment felt by the small trader against this form of competition. The effects on the life of the nation of this weekly drain are all too obvious and outside the scope of this review.

Fortunately Football Pool Promoters are not being unchallenged, A recent High Court judgement pronounced it illegal to conduct pools in or through the newspapers. But while this confines the sphere of their activities it does little to limit their scope. More effective :s the suggestion that the pools should join the list of industries awaiting nationalisation. In Sweden a government-sponsored scheme is already operating succesafully. Fifty per cent. of the turnover on the pools is allocated for distribution, with a tax of 20 per cent. on all dividends above twenty-five shillings. The expenses, including the interest on the initial capital, average about 17 per cent. and the remainder is employed by the Government for the benefit of the people, a large proportion being devoted to the promotion and playing of sports. There is an elementary justice in the thought of teaching people to play football from the proceeds of football mole.