WHERE DOES THE MONEY COME FROM ?
[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] Sin,—May I offer some enlightenment to your correspondent " P." ? Whatever may be the custom in other parts of the country, here in Lancashire such national events as the Football Final Cup-tie afford opportunities for the money- lenders, mostly Jews, to add a little to their annual income. The method is simple and ingenious, and as a concrete example I will take the Cup-tie played at Wembley on April 28th. Amongst the number. of advertised excursions from this town there was one at 48s., which included a return ticket to London, one meal served on the train each way, a seat at the Stadium to view the match, and a char-a-bane drive in London. The enthusiastic, but impecunious, sportsman had merely to apply to a moneylender, not for a cash loan, but for one of these excursion tickets, in return for which he signed a promissory note for 80s., to be repaid at the rate of 4s. per week for fifteen weeks. So far as I can ascertain, the only condition of the loan was that the applicant should be in receipt of regular wages or of the unemployment dole. The interest, I believe, works out at about 80 per cent. per annum.
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