The Caldwell tribune. [volume] (Caldwell, Idaho Territory [Idaho]) 1883-1928, 1914-02-06
A Gambler
Prince
BY DONALD cHAMBERLIN~-

Whit uuNG yOu " SOY WY SSAt~AA~~
should not be passed upon you"
Nothing"
~ regret that the lnadequacy of the
law cOmpels me to let you OF with
nominal punishment. You corrupted
the young men In the telegraph office
to publish false news from the Stock
Exchange in Paris to enable you to
make money by buying or selling
shares, an oGfense which should give
you not less than ten years In prison.
I sentence you to serve seven months
In jail, being the longest term | can
give you for your crime"
Francois Blanc bowed his head and
was marched away. When his term
of service had passed he came out OF
Jail with $4,000 to his credit In bank.
Right under the nose Of the judge
who had convicted him he established
a casino In Homburg, which was really
a gambling house He made money,
but a prejudice against gambling was
growing In Germany. and be feared
the time would come when laws would
be passed that would ruin his business.
NJ Blanc looked up rather than
down. He asplred to run his gam
bling business In a country where he
could so influence the laws that none
would be made to interfere with his
method Of enrlching himself. So he
looked about him. In Europe there are
number Of small kingdoms, princi-
paIitles. dukedoms. that have been In
dependent so long that none OF the
great powers have the hardihood to
absorb them. Blanc found little prin-
cipalIty containing few square miles
only that seemed ripe for what he In
tended What the powers dare not abb
sorb by the bayonet he resolved to abb
sorb by undermining with gold.
The ruler Of this prlncipality had
descended from one Of the oldest royal
families In Europe, but he had nothing
but his pedigree. He held a court, 1t
Is true. but his courtiers were those
who served without salaries and were
able occasionally to lend the sovereign
money In order to recoup he sold
concession in his principally to two
men. who bought 1t with the intention
Of opening gambling house on the
territory conceded They built a ca
sine and began operations, but the
prince wanted all their profits and
they became discouraged
Francois Blanc, learning of this con-
cession and the condition of Its own
ers. bought 1t from them and. closing
out his casino at Homburg, built a
costly one on the new site, laid out
splendid gHrdens-in short, expended
several millions with view to making
his place attractive. Fortunately for
him the time was ripe for such an In
vestment. For many years Baden
Baden, in Germany, had been the
fashionable gambling center of Eu-
rope, where every one, from royalty to
commoner, gave way to the passion of
gaming Baden Baden was now no
longer such resort. and Blanc aimed
to make his concession what Baden
BADEN had been.
In this he succeeded. The gambling
mania OF Europe was all made to pour
gold into Francois Blanc's pocket.
Kings and queens, princes and prln-
cesses. dukes and duchesses. came and
made II fashionable, to be followed by
every one who had franc to spend
and franc to risk. The sovereign |
had all the money he wanted to spend,
and his court, If not numerous, were
at least well dressed and were not |
called upon to lend the prince money. |
But while he held the empty title Of
ruler Of the principally Francois
Blanc was the real governor
The prince died and left his Inherit |
ance to his son. The new sovereign |
proved himself really nothing more
than silent junior partner In gam
bling establishment. and there was
nothing for him to do but remain as
he was, so he renewed the concession
for term OF fifty years for $1,000 900,
a sum that Francois Blanc could well
afford to pay since he made II in
single year. He could afford to do
more than this. He furnished all the
money necessary to run the govern
ment, Including official salaries.
~~~ SSNa ~ 0ANSN va NhC NuAhOlCI SOF-
ereigns path, but he weathered It.
The princes nelghbors. not relishlng a
principally so near them,
endeavOred to induce one OF the pow.
ers on which 1t bordered to take steps
to prohibit 1t, In addition, the princes
subjects became dissatisfied at paying
taxes to a prince who had such an
enormous revenue. At Blanc's request
the sovereign abolished all taxes, and
Blanc paid them.
This was the last bite In the loaf the
gambler devoured, The prince, the
and lastly the subjects
passed into his capacious NAV, for
when citizen sells his citizenship the
buyer becomes its owner.
Francois Blanc accumulated a for
tune equal TO some OF the largest in
America, and, II he was only prince
In financial way, he married his
daughters to princes.
The principally that forms the sub
Iect OF this narrative lies ON the
North shore OF the Mediterranean and ,
5 called Monaco 1t is divided into