My Life

My Life - Oswald MosleySoliciting', but no warning of the barracuda. He was informed that to mention thechance of soliciting was good for business, but the bite of the barracuda was not. Apractical folk, the Americans.However, Europe made a strong come-back in the formidable person of PrincesseWinnie de Polignac. She was born in America, a Singer sewing-machine heiress andaunt to the almost equally formidable Daisy Fellowes; the family had a large interestin the Everglades Club where we all lived. It was an agreeable establishment withcomfortable little chalets surrounding the central club-house to which we walked inthe morning for an excellent breakfast. We found the Princesse de Polignac onemorning in this central hall addressing the management in commanding tones on thesubject of her broken lavatory: 'What is the use of being as nasty as Americans, if youare as inefficient as Sicilians?' We had naturally to rally to her side, for she gave thebest musical parties in Paris, which in festive seasons ended with the staff of the huntentering to blow their horns; we had an affection for this extraordinary character who,in old age, blended the creative energy of America with the subtlest charms of Europe.We were fortunate to find in Florida some of our most treasured friends from Paris,and were eventually tempted to linger too long. Interesting things too were happeningin Florida, notably the exaggerated land boom. Plots were being bought and sold overand over again in frantic speculation, and prices were astronomical; rocks out in thesea were being acquired for some future mythical construction. Eventually moreserious economists began to calculate that if almost the whole population of Americaspent its holidays there, supplied with a considerably larger income than it currentlypossessed, the place would still be oversold. The subsequent crash was a warning tosimilar tendencies in Europe today. Many of those speculations would come off in thelong run, but, as oft-quoted Keynes observed, in the long run we are all dead. So theboom which centred round Tampa was left with America's favourite comedian,Ukulele Ike, singing: 'Oh, sunny Florida, why did I ever tamper with you?'Dog-racing was then starting up for the first time in Florida, and, after seeing it, I wasasked if it would be a success in England, and was offered the chance to get in on theground floor. I replied that it would certainly be a great success with our sportingBritish public, but as an M.P. I felt it was my duty not to encourage gambling; so Icould not participate. Two fortunes I missed in that period through rather absurdscruples. The other was a chance to bet on the election results of 1929. The BritishStock Exchange had a system of betting on election results. As it had been my dutyfor some years previously to make the last speech for the Labour Party at practicallyevery by-election, I knew all the chief agents of the party intimately, and was wellaware from close experience what the result of the election was likely to be. TheStock Exchange had grossly under-estimated Labour's success, and with myinformation I should be betting on a certainty. I refrained, because I knew that I waslikely to be in the following government, and thought it would be unbecoming for aMinister to have made a fortune on the previous election results.Was I right to maintain this attitude of unequivocal rectitude?—or was I just adamned young prig? Human nature—particularly British nature— will gamble in anycase—fools and their money will be parted in any case— money in the right handscan be used for beneficent purposes. I have spent a considerable proportion of myown fortune to support things in which I believe, and I might just as well have picked172 of 424