GAMING-HOUSES. (Hansard, 23 March 1854)

THE ATTORNEY GENERAL

said, the Bill which he was about to submit to the consideration of the House had for its purpose the remedying of the defects of the law relating to gaming-houses. Hon. Gentlemen who had taken the trouble of reading the reports appearing daily in the newspapers must be perfectly well aware that very numerous instances had recently occurred of the law being set at complete defiance by the keepers of such establishments, which he was very sorry to say abounded in this metropolis. As the house was well aware, the law had made very wise and salutary provisions against the practice of gaming, and those provisions had succeeded happily in putting down the 1240 practice of public gaming—thus forming a very proud contrast in favour of this country as compared with some foreign States, where not only the practice had not been eradicated, but it was actually encouraged for the most unworthy motives. But although the practice of public gaming had thus been prevented by the law, unfortunately all legislation on the subject had hitherto proved inadequate to repress the existence of private gaming-houses and the practice of play in such places, and every day brought to light some fresh instances of young men of hope and promise being inveigled away into those dens, having their fortunes impaired, oftentimes ruined, and their prospects most seriously blighted by the arts to which they fell victims. And yet it would seem that at first sight the existing law was perfectly strong enough to put down these establishments. Penalties had been imposed by various Statutes against those who kept gaming-houses, and against those who frequented them. By the existing law the Police Commissioners had abundant powers to authorise officers of justice to enter—and, if necessary, by force—into these places, to see if persons were to be found there with instruments of gaming about them. No one would have supposed but that such measures would have had the desired effect; and certainly no blame attached either to the magistrates or to the police, for both had been as active and as incessant in their endeavours to put an end to the practice, though, unfortunately, all their efforts had proved fruitless. But the reason of this failure was ascribable simply to the fact that the present gaming establishments, being maintained in private houses, the parties who kept them contrived to exclude all persons in whom they could not place the most unbounded confidence; and they were enabled, by the effectual means they had recourse to, to keep out the entry of the police until they were enabled to get rid of all the proofs of gaming which were required for their conviction. He might mention to the House that he had been in communication with a police officer who had been frequently employed on such occasions, and from him he had become fully acquainted with the mode of procedure with regard to these cases. It would seem that keepers of these places regularly fortified their establishments—that either the outer door or some other defence was fortified in a manner from which the Board of Ordnance itself might learn a 1241 lesson in the matter of fortification. And to such an extent were these obstructions carried, that the officer he had just alluded to told him that it was frequently quite impossible to effect an entry into these establishments in less than half an hour, thus affording time to make away with the implements of gaming. As he had said, they took very good care not to admit any one in whom they had not the most thorough confidence. They admitted old hands, because they were known to them; they admitted young hands when they came introduced by old ones. But the police, of course, they did not admit; they were too well known to the wary guardians stationed inside and out to have any chance of that. The moment a policeman came in sight, the bolts, chains, bars, and locks were brought into use, and a warning by a bell or otherwise was given to the persons overhead, so that long before the police could effect an entry every article used for the purposes of gaming, such as cards and dice, was removed by means of a convenience already prepared, which communicated with the common sewer, and carried them away to the main sewer. Hereupon the bars and bolts were removed, and the police received with all possible politeness—were begged to walk in—to find, however, nothing more than a pleasant convivial gathering assembling round the supper-table, or a social party recreating themselves with some innocent game. Notwithstanding all the persons found on the premises are brought before the magistrate—though the policeman admits at once that he had neither found them in the act of gaming, nor could he discover any instruments for the purposes of gaming anywhere about. The failure, therefore, was quite complete, there being no case against the parties. Perhaps the magistrate, if he chanced to be a grave man, shook his head—if, on the contrary, of a mirthful disposition, he laughed, so that every one laughed except the poor discomfited police. So that the party implicated was free to open his house again the very same night, and re-commence his abominable practices. Such, then, was the objectionable state of things which it was most desirable to remedy. Indeed, instances of such cases had latterly been so frequent as to give occasion for great public scandal. He was most happy, however, to see that the press had commented on them in the right spirit, and in that House the attention of Her Majesty's Go- 1242 vernment had been directed to the subject by the noble Lord the Member for Ludlow (Lord W. Powlett). Now it was perfectly clear that the cause of the constant defeats of the law arose from the difficulty of obtaining evidence; for there was no hesitation or doubt for a single moment that these gaming-houses existed. Indeed, it was a melancholy fact that they swarmed and multiplied throughout the metropolis, and they were perfectly well known to the police officers—as well known as the hotels and taverns in the quarters where they existed. They were frequented by a class of persons who were either habitual gamblers or sharpers, and by young men, oftentimes of rank and fortune, who had the misfortune to be inveigled into them. And while, therefore, on the one hand, they knew of the existence of such places, and were perfectly aware of the consequent evils, how they swarmed and abounded throughout the metropolis, they had, on the other hand, the humiliating fact of the equally great and enormous evil of seeing the law defeated, defied, set at nought, and made the subject of mockery and derision by persons who every day violated it. Now, as he had before observed, the difficulty of obtaining evidence was no doubt very much increased by the means which these parties had recourse to in order to shut out effectually the entry of the police. For if the police could only procure an entry at all times into such places, as elsewhere, they would very soon detect the gamblers, and bring the owners of the establishments to that punishment which the law directed, so that in a very short time nothing more would be heard of them. But as long as this power of barring out the officers of justice continued, so long would it remain impossible to reach these keepers of gaming-houses by the existing law. He was prepared, therefore, to strike at once at the root of the evil, and with that object he proposed to make it a substantive offence wilfully to take means for the purpose of excluding the entry of officers of police when those officers were authorised by the law to enter. It was quite obvious, however, that he might be met at once with the objection, "What! would you make the barring the door of one's own house a matter of offence?" But, on the other hand, he might be allowed to observe, and as was very well understood by the police, there was a most essential and unmistakeable difference between an ordinary case of fastening a 1243 man's door, to prevent the ingress of improper persons, and the means resorted to by gaming-house keepers, for the purpose of guarding against by any possibility the entry of those who came armed with the warrant of a magistrate, and in order to defy that magistrate. He believed that magistrates would have no difficulty in coming to a decision on this point. He proposed, therefore, that when a case fell within the existing Statutes, when information was laid before the magistrates by competent persons, and when the magistrates or the police commissioners had issued their warrant, if it should appear that unusual and unnecessary means had been resorted to by the occupiers of the house to keep out the officers, that should be a substantive offence, liable to punishment. In the second place, he proposed to extend a principle already recognised in the 8 & 9 Vict., cap. 109, the 8th section of which provided that where any cards, dice, or implements of gambling should be found, although the parties might not be found in the act of gaming, that still it was competent for the magistrate, under those circumstances, to presume from the fact that the house was used as a gaming-house; and it placed upon the owner the burden of disproving the allegation. He proposed, therefore, to extend that provision to all cases where those unnecessary contrivances were resorted to to fortify the avenues to the house, and to constitute that circumstance primâ facie evidence of the guilt of the accused parties. The next steps, however, which he proposed to take would be much more efficacious in suppressing the evil and overcoming the difficulty of obtaining evidence. A number of persons were found on the premises. Of these some were liable to heavy punishment; others, perhaps, to none at all. Some were victims and dupes, the others old hackneyed gamblers, the sharpers and decoyers—keepers of these establishments, that inveigled the young and the unwary. Now he, therefore, proposed to enable a magistrate, when a body of persons were brought up before him, either at the instance of the police-officer, or through the exercise of his own judgment, to select from amongst them the most objectionable, and hand them over to be prosecuted, while others of the party might be admitted as witnesses against them. At present no power was given to a magistrate enabling him to obtain the evidence of such persons, for, inasmuch as 1244 they were liable to punishment, they would refuse to answer questions which might inculpate themselves. It was proposed, therefore, to allow of the magistrate obtaining from any person evidence, by converting him into a witness; and he was perfectly sure that amongst every twenty or thirty persons seized on such occasions there would be always some, more or less respectable, that would not hesitate, merely to screen persons guilty of offences of this kind, to put the authorities in possession of evidence so as to enable them to enforce the law against such notorious offenders. He would also make this further provision; he believed nothing tended so much to prevent young men from going into these establishments as the risk of being discovered and exposed before the public, with their identity fully fixed and established. Now, at present the way such persons got over any difficulties of that kind was by giving false names and addresses. For the future, however, he proposed to constitute that an offence against the law; and any one, therefore, giving a false name or a fictitious address to a magistrate will be liable to penalties. He felt sure that, if consent was given to the enactment of such provision, the evil so much complained of would very soon cease to exist. The House would remember, on the occasion of the introduction of a Bill last Session for the suppression of betting establishments, they were told that it was impossible to adopt such a measure. He was happy, however, to be able to say that those pest-houses had been completely put down; and he believed, in reference to the present evil, if the House would but accept the plan embodied in his Bill, that a similar success would be attained; and that they would be adopting the surest means of overthrowing the last remnant of those gaming establishments, which were a disgrace to the country—a work which he hoped to see speedily and effectually completed.