LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.
THE PRESS AND SPORTING TIPSTERS.
[TO THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR."1
Sra,—A few weeks ago I posted a cheque of £150 to my bankers. The cheque was stolen by a postman, who was subsequently arrested and sentenced at the Central Criminal Court on the 18th inst. to six months' hard labour. When the postman was arrested I sent my secretary to make inquiries at the man's home in order to ascertain, if possible, the reasons which had actuated him in committing this theft. The post- man's wife, a most respectable woman, told my secretary that her husband had taken to betting, and had for some time past spent his time following the sporting tipsters in the Star,— "Old Joe" and "Captain Coe." I subsequently had several interviews with the postman and his wife, and there is no shadow of doubt that these sporting tipsters were directly responsible for the man's ruin. This postman at first made money by following the tips of "Old Joe " and " Captain
Coe," and an easy road to fortune seemed open to him; but naturally, when a man plays with loaded dice there is not much doubt of the final result, and of course the crash came.
I enclose a short report from Wednesday's Times which explains my position. Now my complaint is that the Press deliberately suppressed the evidence I gave in Court in con- nexion with the part the Star newspaper played in this matter, and I submit that any "corner " in public opinion by the Press must constitute a real danger to the State. Though I profoundly differ from your general views on political questions, yet the well-known independence of the Spectator leads me to hope that you at least will publish facts which have been deliberately suppressed by your contemporaries. This is no isolated case, for at the County of London Sessions held last week another betting case was tried before Mr. Robert Wallace, and the Star was again the offender, yet the facts were suppressed.—I am, Sir, &c.,
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