The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1858-11-14


peoples savage or civilized Christian or
has been problem for the metaphysi-
cal philosophers of all ages. People who are
neither metaphysical nor philosophical per Sc
have made as short work Of it rs johnson did of
the Free Will guestion-men and women will
gamble, and there s an end Of it. Even the
most despotic governments have been unable to
suppress the vice altogether. In England, al
though games of hazard are prohibited in the
clubs, yet there remain whist and cribbage, at
which fortunes have been lost and won.
Within two years Belgravia has heard that
q Cabinet Minister cheated poryenu out
ofthc snug little sum of ten thousand pounds
at whist; and we presume that Morphy will win
fairly at least three or four thousand pounds at
chess. A celebrated Kentucky sporting man,
who has not been over lucky on the British turf,
has, on d,t, made not less than hundred thou
sand dollars upon the green cloth at cribbage.
In Paris the public gaming houses have long
since been suppressed by the police; but the
goyernn eHt permits circles which correspond
TO our clubs At the circle, as well as in private
society, play-chie1y at lansquenet, piauet and
ecarts-is very high. In Germany, as our
readers know, several sovereign princes owe
their bread and butter to the gambling houses
licensed within their dominions. With paternal
care. however, these grand dukes prohibit their
own people from playing and say to the gam
bicgs: Please to cheat only the strangers; we
can attend to that department for our subjects"
In the United States the gambling passion
seems to be deeply rooted. We gamble at cards,
we gamble in stocks, in public lands in politics,
in houses, and in every available thing, from
township in Minnesota down to pair of gloves
at Stewards The men in Wall street gamble In
stocks all day and play at faro all night. The
politicians and lobby men at Washington lose at
the gambling house good part of the money
that they steal out of the public purse. Here
we Fave very stringent law against gambling,
and the keeping Of house for such purpose is
a felony under the statute. Sometimes our chief
magistrate il seized with a fl Of virtuous indig-
nation, and descends' upon a gaming house,
the occupants Of which, being duly warned be-
forehand, receive the police like perfect gen.
Sometimes the outside gets view Of
this lower world by the act of the po-
tentates themselves. Thus we published lately
an amusingly illogical defence Of gambling from
the pen Of one Willis, who writes with an air of
injured innocence that reminds us Of Fielding's
Jonathan Wild, the Great. This philosophers ar
gument is founded upon the idea that two wrongs
-. Il
bles In Erie or nips illegal interest in Wall street.
that ne, Willis, has q perfect right TO gamble at
faro or roulette in Broadway. II is needless to
sag that the conclusion does not follow from
the premises. The cool impudence, however,
Of the mans attempting defence of his traffic is
worthy Of this brazen age. A little higher in the
scale was the gambler who died the other day at
the national capital. This man was one Of the pow
ers in the republic. His contributors were grave
senator's and fast representatives, ministers and
attaches government clerks, chiefs Of the lobby,
elegant loaiers, Southern merchants and planters,
and cadets Of the first families somewhere or
other. who came to Washington to throw away
their little patrimony and then, being gentlemen,
and consequently above honest labor, sunk to
the debasing traffic Of touteT or decoy for the
place at which they had been ruined The cor
respondent Of provincial paper, who furnishes
an eloquent obituary Of the distinguished de-
ceased, extolling his uppers and his wines,
(hvorite subjects with the Washington scribes),
bis wife and her cquipages, his plate and his
carpets, his glassware and bis charities lat
ter being money to put out at interest In the
other world-a sort Of anchor thrown to wind
ward, or fifty per cent premium bid for place
on the right side at the day Of great account
The Washington gambler necessarily belongs
TO the aristccracy OF his order. Ills patrons are
less numerous but more select than those which
Gll the saloons Of the metropolis. Here the
tables are thronged by merchants and their clerks
bank officers and employees, counts who are Of
no account, barons who are altogether barren,
and husbands Of primo donne who, with newly
fashioned lathe, turned their wives throats into
ivory counters. The Washington men play hca-
Willy and lose largely but The metropolitan game
II said to have grown smaller and less profitable
Of late. Indeed, there are rumors Of great dis
trees among some Of the fashionable gamblers
here, and II il even limited tina, the horrible con-
tingcncy Of being obliged TO earn an honest
livelihood has risen before them like horrid
spectre, breaking their matutinal slumbers
That so great calamity may be averted let us
ell earnestly pray.
Seriously, however while Wall street encou-
RACES gambling in every possible form in the
morning, and while senators gamble in politics
at the Capitol, at the same time paying their
losses at faro out OF the public purse while
the parsons preach the worship Of the al
mighty dollar-not the Almighty God-wc
do not see how the more illegal but scarce
" less immoral business of night playing Is
to be prevented. While the example of the
statesmen and the fnanciers affords no pallation
for the gamblers trade Il certainly offers strong