Nation of gamblers

THAT Story-of-the-Week—"Make a fortune on the Tote Jackpot"—looks like being a damp squib. But even so, one man who will he watching its progress with a wary eye is the Rev. Gordon Moody, Methodist secretary of the Churches' Council on Gambling. He
operates from a tiny office near Westminster Abbey trying to curb the get-rich-quick mentality of the British. "It's very clear already that excessive gambling is
causing trouble," he says. "It's doing damage to family life. Our aim here is to contain gambling in our society. We accept that you cannot get rid of it. "The old facile approach of absolutes has gone by the board. The argument that gambling is all right in moderation leads to a laissez-faire attitude towards gambling and its results in society generally. The attitude that it is essentially wrong on every occasion leads to a rigorist approach which is equally ineffective. An informed and radical approach is what is required." In Britain we spend something over £900 million on all forms of gambling: £610 million on the horses, and lesser amounts on the dogs, pools, bingo and premium bonds. Betting shops are increasing rapidly. Catholic Liverpool comes high up in the list with 6.69 shops for every 10,000 of the population. Merthyr Tydfil is top with 9.66. Glasgow is something of a curiosity. For several years the number of shops has been declining, but this last year they've been mushrooming again. What of a problem that faces many priests who have to raise money: should they use pools and bingo for this purpose? Mr. Moody thinks not. "In a properly grown-up society," he says, "we would say: We need a hospital, we need a church or we need a school. Therefore, we must find the money. It should not be necessary to raise it by gambling. This is the short sighted view. "On the other hand, I don't believe that if you start with a raffle ticket you end up at the gaming table. But it's symptomatic; it's not good citizenship."