INFORMER V. BINGO

BINGO TONIGHT, IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. . . . BINGO SATURDAY--HOLY NAME. . . . BINGO TOMORROW, SACRED HEARTS OF JESUS & MARY. . . . Scandalous and shocking to many a U. S. moralist has been the spread, under the auspices of churches of Christ, of Bingo, the gambling game in which participants pay 5-c- or more, stand to win from $1 up by placing counters upon a numbered board, the numbers being drawn, called, and five in a row on the board winning the game. Chief Bingo operators are cinema houses, clubs, and Roman Catholic churches in the East, the first discovering that the game fills the house no matter how poor the picture, the latter two finding it a fine money-raiser for worthy causes. The Catholic Bishop of Albany, .N. Y. last month outlawed Bingo in his diocese (TIME, Dec. 21), but his apostolic colleagues of the East have not followed suit.

Last week an attorney of Linden, N. J. named Max J. Berlin moved to bring the Law on Bingo operators. Under a statute which allows "informers" to collect 1% of fines levied upon lawbreakers, he had evidence collected, instituted suits in the name of a client against 14 theatres and lodges, six churches. Said Lawyer Berlin: "This demoralization of the public must stop at once." U. S.

game manufacturers found that in 1936 Bingo was their best seller, with unit sales (from 10-c- to $12 the game) likely to surpass the last great fad game, Mah-jongg (1924). In New Jersey alone, reported Lawyer Berlin, 200 Bingo operators are netting $300,000 a week, the average game drawing more than 1,000 players. Firms now flourish which go into a parish house, lodge or theatre, run a Bingo party on a percentage basis. Though the Bishop of Albany frowned upon Bingo simply because it is scandalous, his fellow bishops technically are under no obligation to do so. Catholic theologians have decided that gaming is licit provided 1) the gamer owns and is at liberty to use what he wagers; 2) he acts of his free will; 3) there is no fraud; 4) there is equality between the parties to the game. Nevertheless gambling has been denounced by saints, church councils, Popes.* Of gambling, the Catholic Encyclopedia remarks: "If indulged in to excess it leads to loss of time, and usually of money; to an idle and useless life spent in the midst of bad company and unwholesome surroundings; and to scandal which is a source of sin and ruin to others. It panders to the craving for excitement and in many countries it has become so prevalent that it rivals drunkenness in its destructive effects on the lives of the people."

*Pope Benedict XIV (1675--1758), though a pious and respected man, was addicted to cards and profane language, kept a crucifix in his apartments to curb his tongue. Once, in one of Christendom's great moments, he became so incensed at a partner at cards that he signaled to have the crucifix removed, let loose such a volley of oaths that his companions cried him down: "Holy Father, for God's sake, Holy Father!" So, at least, writes Valerie Pirie in The Triple Crown, a lively account of the Papacy published last month (Putnam, $5).

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