stranger can play at roulette, or at trente-et-quarante, upon
presentation of a card of address. Mentone, says M. Planchut, which is
the nearest resort to Monte Carlo, is neither rich, populous, nor
luxurious. 'While there has been a surprising increase in the population
of Ems, Wiesbaden, and Hombourg since the abolition of their tables,
the population of Mentone has scarcely increased by two thousand souls
since its annexation by France. Mentone will not be possible as a winter
residence for invalids until the tables have disappeared from the
littoral.' Nice also suffers, says this caustic French censor, from its
proximity to Monte Carlo. 'Unfortunately, people play at the Massena and
Mediterranean clubs in Nice as much as at Monaco. The passion for
gambling has permeated all ranks of society at Nice, until it has
infected the very tradespeople--has even descended to the humblest poor
of its port. Walk round the town on a fete day, and you will see in the
old quarters, upon the quays, and in the open air, roulette tables in
full swing.' The Massena Club, anxious to detain wealthy strangers at
Nice, and to keep them away from Monaco, finds its gambling-rooms too
small, and is extending its accommodation. The result is that the owners
of the lovely villas, the luxurious hotels, and the abounding apartments
at Nice, Cannes, and many other similar resorts are bitterly complaining
of a want of tenants and guests. Prudent fathers of families are
naturally slow to take young sons to a city where play rules supreme,
and from which Monte Carlo is accessible by trains which never cease
running. Still less do they care to expose their daughters to mingling
with that crowd of questionable females, coming from all parts of the
world, and constituting what M. Planchut calls the 'monde interlope,'
which assembles every winter at Monte Carlo and Nice. The inevitable
consequence is that 'the value of land increases in proportion to its
distance from the Principality of Monaco.' M. Planchut does well to base
his demand for the suppression of Monte Carlo upon arguments pointing
rather to political economy than the public morality. In England,
however, we are bound to remember that within fifty hours of our shores
an open gambling-house exists, to the destruction of the peace and
happiness of many English families. 'Never,' says the writer of an
excellent article based upon M. Planchut's contribution to the _Revue
des Deux Mondes_, 'has t