The Sun.
London, England, 1866-06-18 00:00:00

Welchers and their Victims.

The facetious correspondent of the Racing Times
writes on the above subject as follows :

The late welching case at Epsom has attracted a
large and undue amount of public attention. What-
ever were the antecedents of the fellow Hartley or
Hargreaves, the excited backers took the wrong
remedy. It was impossible to know what would be
the result, and, like otherpanics, might have proved
groundless, but, looking at the whole affair with
the unprejudiced eye of an impartial historian, it

is out of the question to justify such an outrage as
one person thrusting his hands into the pockets of
another and forcibly seizing all that could be laid
hold of. Supposing a party who had deposited in
so loose a concern, say a couple of sovereigns, had
seized and ran away with twenty times the amount,
what could have been urged in extenuation of such
an act ? However great a scoundrel the welcher
might have proved, and however good the welcher's
intentions, such acts must not be tolerated in a
country like our own. I have been led into
these few remarks on the receipt of letters
from well-meaning parties protesting against the
injustice of the sentence awarded, which, though
slight in its nature, was heavy and degrading-to the
recipient. The sting was taken away by omitting
labour usually affixei on such occasions, and the
judgment no doubt emanated from the magistrate
who intended to make the temporary detention as
pleasant as possible. Sir George Grey, on being
appealed to, thought the case was a fit one for a
free pardon, so that the inconvenience was only
temporary, and the sympathies of friends and well-
wishers will effectually heal the wound.
After all that has been continually urged against
such practices as breaking faith, how simple the
remedy is. There are well-known and long-estab-
lished persons pursuing betting as a profession, who
receive and pay with unerring certainty many tens
of thousands of pounds yearly, and who are to be
found at certain places from Knightsbridge, in the
far west, to, Whitechapel, eastward; the favourite
spot being the City proper. With those gentlemen
communications may be made " by letter only," but
they are not above personally receiving current coin
from anybody. Why, then, should not the race
of welchers be permitted to retire from the scene for
want of patronage ; but, I. regret to find, from ex-
perience, that fools continue to crop up in every
walk of life. They arrive by all sorts of vehicles
from all kinds of places in the morning. They arc
pounced upon by, and yield to, the most shallow
artifices of patent and palpable duffers, whose
schemes any reasonably sharp lad of ten years of
age would see through, and frustrate without hesi-
tation. A welcher has recently been secured for
advertising to lend money to anybody without
security, provided the borrower's respectability
could be made apparent to his private travelling
agent, but no inquiry fees nor any preliminary or
contingent expenses were to be incurred. Six per
cent. was the figure ; and, considering that the Old
Lady of Threadneedle-street is now charging ten
for first-class paper, nobody would grumble at the
former sum, especially as the repayment of the loan
was to extend over the period of five years. The
obliging familiarity of an entire stranger was amus-
ing. His first letter in reply to this borrower com-
menced " My dear Sir," and ended " yours very
truly." The " travelling agent" next made a spe-
cial journey into the country, and in the strictest
honour and secresy reported the borrower to be a
first-class personage, so that a forged bill stamp
was sent down with a request to accept and remit
£6 10s. to him, one years' interest payable in ad-
vance, and postage stamp, &c., of course. The
Svictim sent Post-office order, but as to the remit-
tance of the hundred it stood over for further
consideration. The police in charge of the case

apprehended the welcher when in the act of obtain-
ing several registered letters containing cash, and
no less than 70 unregistered from as many dupes,
complaining that cheques had not been remitted in
exchange for their valulable autographs. Probably
the greater portion of the applicants never intended
to pay, but there was no justification in the welcher
robbing them of a year's interest on an imaginary
certainty.
1 happened last week to get into some mixed
society, and met a reformed character of the tribe.
lle was a shrewd fellow, and only practising his
performances under another guise. lle had been
bred up pretty well in the country, and during
youth and several years of adult life, he said, had
never entered a theatre or any similar place, but
had not been so particular since his location in the
great village. Sole provisional committeeman and
managing director of his own fortune, he gave
a graphic description of the period when, commenc-
ing on his own " hook," be joined an intelligent
gentleman in the money borrowing line, which
formed a distinct profession from the money lending.
If persons advertise to lend, there are generally a
multitude of borrowers ; but if they advertise
to borrow, there are not so many lenders, and
therefore a sufficient bait must be held out ; and this
consists of two things—the one very liberal interest,
and the other good security.
The gentleman requiring the cash is always a
needy tradesman, wants the accommodation for a
week or ten days, will give a bonus of £5, and de-
posit security worth £lOO for the loan of £lO.
The " security" is always mock jewellery, or wine,
or tea warrants, representing goods which could
never be removed from their damaged condition and
the dock charges exceeding their value. I was in-
formed that the deposits were occasionally strength-
ened, and rendered more valuable by mortgage
deeds issued by modern Lombards known by the
popular sign of " three golden dumplings," but
whatever was exchanged for current coin never be-
came returned, and the lenders were always vic-
timised. It appeared that the " tradesman" should
be a person looking what was termed " up to the
knocker," and a fair stock in trade of plausibility
was essential to the successful carrying on of a
large business where skill and industry were com-
bined in the operations.
" One thing will be apparent," he said, in answer

,o an observation. " I had received a sound, elemen

tarp education, at the average cost to my worthy
sire of sixpence a week. I was taught to look up
to governors, spirituous pastors, and masters, and
so forth, contriving to carry out to some extent
popular precepts, and if I erred, generally did so in
good company. Turned my hand to drinking
fountains, early closing, practised general utility
among those classes who only do welching on the
respectable scale ; in fact," he continued, " like an
eccentric uncle, greatly respected by his creditors,
who had been bankrupt on more than one occasion,
and whose stock, furniture, and indeed everything
which had not been previously removed, were un-

luckily destroyed by fire after a policy had been
opened, always advised me to keep the expenditure
within the income. Those who back horses are
not always able to do so if they acted on my uncle's
motto, but should they contrive to adhere to the
principle and seekiinvestments:in safe channels only,
a more certain record might possibly be the result,
assuming there to be anything sure, or to inexpe-
rienced hands, of advantage in the pursuit." _

There can be no doubt that the press, general
or class, particularly that portion devoted to
our national pastimes, is a mighty engine, if
fearlessly put in motion, and would soon estab-
lish a healthy condition of things by cautioning
the less wary from embarking their capital,
large or small, with parties of the discreditable
grade referred to, and whose modes of working are
ever on the change, as described by the man
of many callings ; but in whatever position
of life, adhered to the sole guiding system
of his existence by welching in some one or
more of the methods which are continually presented
to the veteran schemer, and as pertinaciously fallen
into by the greenhorn. Year after year rise and
fall into the memories of the past, producing at the
beginning new and bright hopes to the fortunate
carrying on some in continuous success and increas-
ing prosperity, meting out to others a hard and
doubtful existence, and winding up with the re-
mainder by a close struggle at the post or finish.
The tide of speculation in many circles has received
a serious check, and cautions its votaries to look
ahead and allow discretion to temper their future
operations, whether sporting or otherwise.