*
London's Gambling
Gets
Dirty
What do you do if you are one
of the "punters"? Very Bille, beyond complaining.
If you are a professional mobster friends gambler yotir
settle the deul for you.
Threatened
But-an
Fren recently the
mobsters have moved in now In
a big way.
The other night a gambling party organiser-member of fronous
me. family phoned. London. "Jeremy," he said in a trembling need
than voice. more
I have
been just cards.
threatened. EL playing roulette wheel, and a good
You
tion,
"A voice told me ແ the address to stage one of phone; If you want protec- those big gambling parties behind the Victorian front doors of Belgravia today.
marc
pay us tty nicker or we wreek your next party. Then he
First off."
My friend knows that within More than the walters who a day or so he will receive in-
champagne. serve the
cigars structions on how the £50 ha and avlure,
than the to her pild. hired watchers at the door, you need the strong mewales deel with the "eustomers who specialise in the cush, the flick- knife. the thonged Jeather
Phone call
THE CHINA MAIL, MONDAY, APRIL 6, 1959. !
I GIVE YOU A GUIDE TO A CONTROVERSIAL ASPECT OF LIFE TODAY
The Expense
Account
Era
ALLOWED
Business lunches
And Somerset House has no idea what it amounts to here. No one has ever bothered to find out,
NOT ALLOWED Clothes bills
be taxed on the assumed value ht gela out of it for private purposes, ·
The make of car may also be questioned, depending on the andlig of the business concerned,
By law, a director or execu- 1lve can claim tax relief on ex- penditure "wholly, exclusively und Recessarily" incurred in the
I know of a television dealer performance of his duties,
who bought a £0,000 Bentley Until 1948, the Inland Revenue ad claimed it as a business ex- had to prove that expenses were prase. He was promptly told a
needless before It could cheaper car would do. tax them.
WEST Now the boot is on allowed as an expense if a direc
END FLATA are the other fool. Directors have to show that their tor's firm and home are in the
provinces. expense allowances are Justified. If not, they are jumped in with their enlaries for taxation,
BUSINESS
BY ALEXANDER THOMSON
London. In the snurter West End hotels und restaurants arc business THE business lunch, inches.
like the English- man's weekend, has be- come almost a tradition in Britain.
I went to ONC recently art invita-deep in the heart of May- How do you goi
a Belgravia gambling fair. We had on to
a private Thurs. dredged from The party? 11 muy be through an
room. A perfect meal. Splen- toughest areas of the East End, vitation card bearing the word
clid wines. have moved into the high "Cach" on the back. society of Belgravia.
strap.
It is easy to see why. Society gambling has reached the big money heights. Belgravia hus bec Las Vegas, 3.W.I.
Flats are hired out pt AM average 100 a night (but the cost of any damage caused is not included).
11
Up to £30,000 will change hands al ** party--though know
who lost of £60,000 in six hours.
Reckon on a minimum of 15 parties a week, and you can see that the total gross is gigantie.
Snowballed
Business has anowballed since the time, only two yeats ago, when there were ably ve or two parties a week-end the takings were perrys £200 a night.
It is the new set of promoters, eager for quick "killings," who have
opened the doors to the thugs-the men they brought in as protectors.
I may be a brief telephone call from the man who is run-
oing it
Or you may be allowed in an the trusted. well-heeled friend of n regular gambler-who knows your cheque won't
bounce.
Outside the house You will And suws of chauffeur-driven cars owned by your fellow- cuzimiera. It could almost be hr board meeting at night-
tine.
Don't be surprised if Justic you treognise some well-known fact-barristers, shipowners, peers with targe estates, Alm directors, Irurance under- writers.
The women
The Chairman was entertain ing few hustruss friends. No big deals were arranged. But personal contacts vere renew. and Ideas exchanged about the past, present and future.
its probably true to say that, five days a week, seven out of every 10 lunches served
NO LOVE
This was to be Joha Byrne's big day-the day when the plot to harass the new Socialist Government was to come to fruition. As chairman of the dissident group of Labour MPs (Renfrew, Maxwell, Charlie Young), Johnate was to put an
Many have brought along explosive question to the their women--but they rarely gamble and melt into the back- ground as part of the decora- tous
When there is a boom on the Stock Exchange there will be a fair sprinkling of stockbrokers
there too.
You will also see bookmakers, hoteliers, property dealers. ......... The furnishings are opulent. Wagers will ply you
Protectors against whom? In this most vicious of vicious circles-gainst the strong-arm men brought by rival pro- moters. For competition hase infusly with cigars and becaine Gerce.
th
Which is why London's news popers had to record recently The extraordinary news that, wblic running reputable cheruln de fer party at a hired. Slounc Street. Mr David Patrick had
put to knife bis throat by 10 tif ve mobsters who wrecked the party and beat up his guests.
♪
It 'bounces'..
The mobsters have two func tions-to protect their CLET- ployer's party; and to break up RIVAL'Sporty or discour
his guests from attending.
Luna
ekampagne and see you of in the morning with a breakfast of bacon and eggs).
The rules
The game of chemin de fer contents of trying to get a score
Beaver to mine than one's op- Yach person is dealt
Prime Minlater about the Manran Osala.
Tings seemed to be working out well for Johnnie at last. Ili political career was beginning to take shape again as a rebel. And though his wife had leli him, he had fallen in love with 20-year-old Pauline West, Early. In the morning he sat on his bed, working al
his speech,
They are paid for out of ex- out of every 10 Rolls-Royces and pense accounts. So are eight Bentleys-bought in London, And secres of town flats and hotel suites besides,
By sume, "expenses" is looked pon as rather a dirty word. But why be_brastly to the basses on whom HU much depends? It is the only way they can achieve a standard of living that makes their jobs worth while.
Their pay porkels certainly do not do so, with taxation sd so high,
In Americu, where they keep slatialies on just about every- thing,
they
eslimato that expense account spending runs Into £1,800 million a year.
FOR
JOHNNIE
LUNCHES
ore
usually regarded as a legitimate expense.
Tax Inspectors should be chal- lenged if they are that they can only be so regarded if actual business is transacted, creating and maintaining coạ tacts is part of a director's duly,
Whip hand
The Inland Revenue normally tries the view that a director's base is where board meetings are held.
four days a week in London on
So if he has to spend three or
busin-8, he is presumed to be "on detachment."
TRAVEL Airplane and ship- plug tacey are clearly expense For currel in travelling abroad.
But if business executive is away for three or four months at a time, the Inland Revenue may try to make an adjustment in respect of the money he is presumed to have saved through not living at home.
Eut if he entertains dully, he may not get away with all of his ewit lunches as lax-free items After all, he has to eat, anyway,
CARS, Tax inspectors have the whip hand here. If n com- pany provides a car for n
director's exclusive use, he will
The executive should then mükɔ a counter claint for such expenses as special clothing, the cleaning and repair of clothing after foreign travel, replacement of suitcases.
With luck he will get a Wills of his own back that way.
ALLOWED
Theatre visits
NOT ALLOWED Doctor's fees
Il a pense only to the extent that they are used for entertaining
WIFE' EXPENSES, director takes his wife with him when he goes abroad on business, customers, he cannot claim her as an "expenso."
But if she travels with him an business by entertaining, some n secretary, or to help in his f part of the cost of having her with him may be allowed,
The Tax Inspectors, however, luck into such claims very sus- platously. So you would have to be lucky or convincing-or both.
Reasonable
THEATRE TICKETS. Taking a customer and his wife to the if it is in the interests theatre is a reasonable claim,
business.
A director, or executive, ekn uzually claim for his own and his wife's tickets, too,
CLOTHES. A the top in business, you have to keep up appearances, but that cannot be claimed as an expense..
Challenge
the
JUSTIFYING expenses with Тах Inspectors presents executives when the company fewer problems for directors and
pays all the bills direct,
In a concern with a turnover of millions of pounds a year, checking up on a few thousands of "expenses" would be liko looking for a needle in a hay- stack.
But one company has been challenged Inland Revenue for not fully recently by the
elreloding expenses pold direct in this way.
It may result in a test capo later in the year. There could be a fine old to do if it does.
In recent years, the Inland Revenue has been much more reasonable over "expenses." But it still has the power to clamp down hard, it is wanted to.
Life for a director, or big business executive, would then become intolerable,
Actors and actresses are more fortunate, They tan-and do.
DOCTOR'S BILLS are not admissible in the ordinary way. The law does not recognise yet that your body may need repair, just as a machine fiquires over-
But for the Tax Inspectors, hauling from time to time.
who would have a mountain of YACHTS. Very few bosses claims to wade through, It would can afford them now. They can. won be impossible. be counted as a deductible ex-
EVERYBODY IS TALKING ABOUT IT
The great
moment-
and Byrne
is missing!
THE telephone rang. It was Pauline. "Work hard last night?" "Hm," he said happily, pleased that she had telephoned so early, after one evening apart.
Pouline
"Are you busy this morning?" It up later." And out they walk He had intended to work on his ed into the sunshine. speech, but as she spoke he felt stood still on the pavement and
sudden desire to be rid of it breathed coeply, for a while,
two cards with the possibility of draw not a rd. The player with the tr
nipe nearer takes the other's sluke,
THAT was the scene before the strong-arm boys moved in. But I have a feeling they will reure off many of the old re- „gulars. The gambling party organers will find they havC made noDSO for their own “Come to number eight. The front door is open. My bed- necks, rake
way hus got too on the matte it dirty...Jeremy Banks,
---(Landon Express Service).
They have another role. Sug,
"Johnule," the salt, "I want "No." he said, "shall we to be out of London, just for a meet****
Can't we go off some www days
where?"
le frowned, "I must be in the Tofte by half picl live -Tyde Park-any-god to yoke
at the end of the evening. The guinbling business downter at tro top of the stairs
cheque for £1,000 changes Belgravia humus. Next morning "bounces."
And it's also a mistake.
to be without REDIFFUSION TELEVISION!
against fleas, bugs and other post, remember:
NEOCID is, always best!
· PROCED SPRAY, NEOCED DORID-GRIOY PRODUCTS ODTAINABLE - IN ALL CHIKMUETS-AND DRUG-OR LEAVING DEPARTMENT STORES.
As he replaced the receiver the bell rang ogoln. This time it was Renfrew.
"I just wanted to be sure you hadn't been taken 11." Renfrew "Everything depends on sold.
private notice
your pulting question.
I've been talking tu scine of our people and they're prepared to follow up with sup- plementaries,
fr
"Only if you take me on a boat on the Serpentine,"" sald.
'Relax, now'
umpt
to damage A Prime Minister with his present semi- manly in the middle
the Ser- He decided to push pentine. away the whole of the business until one o'clock. I was wise He to relax before a battle.
iny back on his coat and let the boat drift.
I love her, he thought, cho will be mine some day, all of her. 1 enjoy watching her. She is mine. He felt the exelte- ment growing inside. It was suddenly too much and he had to move.
by
LEONARD,
WILFRED FIENBURGH
bullding. With quick despair he looked at his watch again.
It was 4.15. Too late.
Then he laughed and stroked Pauline's hair, Her eyes were
-(London Expresa Service).
CHAPTER 7
"Shall we meet?” he
said "Come to number
wide open and watching him. Too eight. The front door
te, but it did not matter. Too late and it would never matter.
It was question time the next day before he had to face up to his dereliction,
is open..."
Renfrew came and stood be- side him. late softly.
What happened?" -he-süld
"I changed my mind." "Why?"
A lax was passing along the FyHendup "Paullac I own carriageway with a flag up. you very much," he said Gentry-to-hander - her into the
back seat and sat beside her,
3.30 and ho had promised to say I was convinced by some She was gazing distantly over
call Pauline
the PM put to se his choulder.
"Number She disengaged
Eight,
Dt four. He had of the points Stanhope half an hour to kill
me." one hand and stroked his hair, Street," he called to the driver,
Renfrow shook his held. running her Angers down his and those were the only words
"Firstly," be sold, "I do no neck, over his shoulder, down that were sald on the short
believe you. Secondly, it is very his arm to his hand again. He Journey. shivered. But still she did not look at him.
Ho looked at the clock about Is my tutashole OLY the Speaker's chair. It
He pulled the boat away from
They sat hand in hond not speaking and both looking
the landing-støge, trying to Softly she spoke. "You were head, master the unaccusiomed aars sweet to say that you would and anxious above everything leave everything to me,
But
As they walked upstairs Pauline's room
to
"We can make a very big not to appear clumsy before there comes a time when 1 can brief-case on the hall table. He show. But you must be there at Pauline. 3,30 or the whole thing wili collapse."
"know, I know," Byrne snapped. “I know parliamentary procedure."
He replaced the receiver with- out saying goodbye.
Disappointed
Half an hour later he walked up the stoles of number eight. When Pauline opened the door she was dressed and ready for the street.
Fifty
Was
The question
Charlie Young pushed past the knees ranged along the bench and squeezed into J narrow space beside him. Ho›
face into Byrno's,
he saw his pushed his
keeping his voice low,
"Who got at you?" he said. Byrne looked at him indi ferently. Thero was a smell of onions and boer on Young's breath. Hailtoris is the cardinal parliamentary sin, he thought idly.
go no further. Then it's for you to to make the next glanced at his watch, It yards from the bank he move."
already half-past one," stopped. He was trying not to
Her room was dark from the be breathless, and the sun was He tried to look into her eyes scorching through the serge of but she still avolded him, so he curtains drawn against the sun. Jals Jacket.
laid his hand along her cheek As the door clored behind them and groeped him nercely. "You can relex now, Johnnie," and turned her head. Still she she turned
Jooked down." Pauline sald. "You're not an MR. You're a man'in a boat "I'm not very experienced at with a girl. Take off that coat," this sort of thing, Johnnie," sho
murmured. Gratefully Johnnie laid the prow.
In
"And the shirt, too," Pauline Inughed.
Reluctantly Johnnie unfasion cd his bow-ile. It would be the devil of a job to Ax it again He was disappointed that she without a mirror: And ho
"Nobody got at me," ho whispered.
**Tacca why weren't
you
It was so peaceful and still He dared not tell her that he that he could hear his watch here?" Young was speaking was probably even less experi- ticking over the thump of his quite loudly enced, but this time he knew heart and Pauline's deep and Members who what to do, this time there steady breathing. would be no stumblitt and no false moves.
dangerous to change your mind on Issues like this. You will regret it.”
Bu smiling, he walked away.
His doubts
At 4.30 Byrne asked for the number, his heart beating tur- bulently. Then he heard 1 strange volce:
"Are you Mr Byrno?" "Yes."
"I have a message. I'm Pau- linc's landlady. She telephoned to cay could you met her 'at Euston station at seven o'clock, Platform 12.". -
"Yes. Yes, I will." His double came back. Why now. Several Euston?
As he waited for a taxi, John- were latening to the questions hushed and son, the Prime Minister's Parlia- locked round frowning. Byrpe mentary Private Secretary, came He lay for a long time looking Jeaned forward as though he to walt beside him. They were et her room, the pictures on the was listening intently,
ill at care in each other's com
wall, the books.
Traitor,"
hlased, Young "Damned traitor." Then ho Then the ticking of his watch stood up and pushed his way Without a word he shrugged slowly brought him to the sur past the lunces and out of the
face again. He looked. It was Chamber. Something departed with his into his shirt, thrust his bow-tie 2.30. God, 2.30, and he had to coat and shirt, about 10 years into his pocket and pulled for be its his place in the Chamber minutes to four. There was no
Byrne rang Dutifully, therefore, he fol- of careful propriety, a lifetime the bank. He gave a ten-ahilling at 8.30, in one hour. towed her down the stales agulo. of wärrying what people would note to the attendant who held
reply. Ring at four o'clock, Then he realised that he was think, and with them too went the boat for them as they dis- currying his brief-cazo stuffed gotne of the nagging pulidpa embarked, aling his jacket over he forgot the watch.
It's 3.30, he thought. And then she had said.
Ho called sömin at four","No" with his notes and Hansards. tion of the afternoon.
his arm and took Paulino's band,
reply. At 4,15 there; way-atill "Leave it on the fall table," It was not possible to, recor-, which WES Paulino sald, "and you can pick elle a major parliamentary at- violently,
moved from.... the front · of- the ⋅ anxious.
did not invite him to enter, but wished his stomach were just a the reinembered his pledge to couple of inchas more slender. leave the pace and direction of their association to her.
Trembling
MOTI
Pauline at dive
per but there was no way of escape until a faxl come.
"So you changed your mind?” Johnson said gruffy.
"Anything for: Party unity," Byrne said flippently. from you, that is cyniciara
Johnson
growled, "Coming carried to excess,"
TOMORROW:
trembling. When he awoke the sun had no answer, He was becoming Revenge for Renfrew
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