[TO THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR. "] Sra, — The enclosed, which I
have copied from the Alliance News of February 18th, 1909, may be useful to show Mr. George Cadbury's opinion of betting.—I am, Sir, &c.,
HARRY LUCAS.
Haver, St. Agnes Road, Moseley, Birmingham.
Extracts from the Alliance News and Temperance Reformer, February 18th, 1909. Copied from an interview entitled " Mr. George Cadbury at Home," by A. B. Cooper, in the Sunday at Home for February, 1909.
"Connection with the Daily News.
"Mr. Cadbury has a great dislike to politics, but believes that every citizen should take an interest in them. According to the foundation principles of the Society of Friends, he desires to live peaceably with all men. It was only after repeated refusals that he consented to become a proprietor of the Daily News, desiring to preserve its great literary and political traditions. He has a great dislike for personalities, which seem inseparable from politics, believing that equally good men may conscientiously differ. I did not enter upon this work,' he said solemnly, either from my own inclination or in order to make money. I entered upon it as a public duty, and though members of my family are workino, strenuously with all their might to make it a great success, I will never touch a farthing of my share of the profit the paper may make. It shall all be used for philanthropic purposes.'
" The Drink Problem.
" Mr. Cadbury is a total abstainer, as his father was before him, yet he keeps an open mind upon the drink question. No licensed house exists to-day in Bournville, yet he has inserted a clause in the trust deeds which makes it possible by the unanimous consent of the trustees in whom he has vested the village—a gift representing a quarter of a million sterling— to make the sale of intoxicating liquors at Bournville at least per- missible. If drink is to be sold at all,' he said, 'I would have its sale municipalized, so that no profit accruing from it should go to individuals, and so that there should be no incentive for its sale except to satisfy a reasonable demand.
" But I put betting on quite another basis,' he continued, 'for I am faced with the undoubted fact that millions of good Christian people, of whose Christianity there can be no doubt, think it right to take strong drinks in moderation, but I never heard of an earnest Christian worker who indulged in betting. Therefore, under careful restrictions, it may be well to supply drink. I would rather they could procure it in Bournville for consumption at home than they should go to some vice-ridden drink-shop outside; but I would make no compromise on betting. As you know, I snake the exclusion of betting forecasts from its columns a condition of sny connexion with the Daily Ne ws."
[We have verified the above quotation, which is exact. The italics and cross-headings are added.—ED. Spectator.]
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