The San Francisco call., 1906-07-08
FRANCE MAY
TRY HAND
AT GAMING
Government Monopoly SAID
to Be Probable in Near
Future.
GIVES IMMENSE PROFITS
Right of Supervision over
the "Cercles" Soon to
Be Demanded.
GIVES IMMENSE PROFITS
SPECIAL cABLE TO THE CALL

SPECIAL CABLE TO THE GALL
/ LONDON. July 7.-One of the most
1 important trades in France at the pres
ent moment is the keeping or wnat Ssr are
by courtesy called "cercles ana Oy ul
courtesy 'Tripots."
The English translation of "cercIe Is
Club but the French "cercle neeo
not necessarily bear any but the mos@
distant relationship TO what we are ac
customed TO understand by the EnsHsn
word Frankly, in nine cases out OF
ten, 'cercIe' should be translaIeo
gaming house"
The number Of these "cercles mas
increased TO an extraordinary extent OK
recent years, and today any PariSidn
will tell you that you can play baceara1
in every other house In Paris-an e&
aggeration which comes nearer tne
truth than one would at first sight sup
pose Indeed, so common are these
'.cercIes' today that the entire indus
try" is threatened. If not with eXtlhc-
tion. at any rate with very CONSIDER
able suppression.
Thanks to the law known as La Lof
des Associations" the keeping or
gaming g-house is made extremely easy
All that is required in order 20 rouno
a "cercle" are the signatures or TWEEN
ty-one persons declaring themselves
desirous of forming themselves into
club, and the thing is done. Given the
necessary capital and the necessary
connection. and once you have got your
permission in your pocket, you are the
possessor of one of the most lucrative
businesses in the world
Capital you must have, for though
your risks are small and your pronts
enormous you must. like every other
tradesman. give credit. What is more
if your "cercle" is 10 pay 1T must oe
situated where houses are most central
and rents consequently highest; IT
ba in most alabO-
rate and luxurious manner possible; IL
must boast the best Of chefs and the
most inclusive of cellars. II must have
an army OF exquisite funkeys; and IL
must be heated and lighted after the
most modern methods.
/ All this runs into money, and when
you come to reckon that. in addition 10
Z the cost of rent taxes Ga heavy ttem),
furniture and salaries, you have 10
give lunch or dinner for 5 francs that
must cost you at least 10, and be pre-
pared to advance very considerable
sums to your better clients. IT will be
I seen that no small capital Is required
Twelve thousand pounds, for instance,
would not be too great an amount with
which TO start a "cercle," say, on the
Boulevard deS CapucineS.
/ But if the original capital paid out
/ be considerable, the returns are in like
proportion. Out OF every bank held at
baccarat you have a right to take 10
per cent, and II your members be large
/ gamblers 1900 or f4OO can easily be
the total of your days talSings. Last
year a small "cercle" not a stones
| throw from the Hotel Scribe realized
/ net profit on the years working OF
over $4,000.
! The one great risk is the lending OF
money, and IL cannot be avoided A
member who has lost thousands OF
francs may md his notecase empty and
ask for loan of. say, couple OF hun
dred pounds. Luck may continue
against him. and he may want another
couple of hundred Possibly by the
/ end of the evening he may be thou
sand pounds in your debt II he be
/ solvent as we'll as honorable, the thou
sand may be returned the next morn
/ ing; If he be neither the one nor the
other. the thousand may have to be
written Off"
/ At the present moment the Govern
ment takes nothing from either Ger
cles" or casinos beyond taxes; in the
near future it will require percentage
/ of the takings. What is more. it will
demand the right OF strict supervision.
right which at the present moment IL
possesses only as regards casinos. in
which considerable amount of palm
oiI'' is always kept in stock, for strict
/ honesty and casinos are by no means
inseparable In other words. before
many years have passed one OF the
most 1ourishing industries in the coun-
/ try will have become to all intentS and
| purposes a state monopoly.
/ That the owners OF "cercles" and
casinos will be alone TO blame for the
/ loss of their gold mines is an obvious
\ fact. Had they been content with
fewer establishments and smaller
/ profits. they might have continued for
/ centuries to reap the harvest But by
the multiplication OF rcercles'' and the
stupendous profits made they have
I c1 20,
/ their business.
/ That the state control OF gambling
in France will be Of great benefit to
/ the country is not TO be denied. Bac-
carat has become little short OF a
! mania, especially In Paris, where even
ladies' clubs have now been formed for
the sole purpose OF playing the game.
4 Moreover the temptation to dishonesty
\ in connection with gambling Is too
great TO be generally avoided. and IL
I there are not more gaming scandals
it is because those interested in their
suppression are powerful enough to
/ hush them up.
Not so very long ago a "croupier'' at
fashionable watering place was
caught purloining counters during the
I progress Of a game of baccarat-count-
ers which represented a large amount
of money The local scandal was. OF
| course, considerable. but IL was con-
/ fined to the locality, a fact which cost
the .'tenancier' of the "cercIe" in ques-
tion dear, but for which he cheerfully
paid.