The independent. (Harrisonburg, La.) 1853-18??, 1859-03-09

Gaming HOuses.
St. Paul-of New Orleans, not he Of
Tarsus, has bill before The Legislature to n
cense gaming houses. The afgsments and
reasons he will offer a. the proper time, in
support Of this bin, We Of course are iguorani
Of, but we may venture to anticipate them.
de will most likely shew that gaming can
not be suppressed.-That If not permitted
publicly it will be carried on secretly, and to
as great an extent, If not greater privately,
than It wosld be publicly. That the vice
prac'ised secretly has greater demoralizing
effect than it would have if INDUCED in pub
lic'y. To sustain this proposition he may
adduce the fact. that many indulge in pri.
vate gaming wlto have powerful motives for
conceaisne,It, and who consequently wea'd
not'enter public establishments OF the kind.
That freud, swindling. outrage, violence and
even murder may be successfully perpetrated
in the secret ii els" secure as they are from
the supervision Of justice; while crime is
suppressed, and safety and order maintained
in the public establishments, By rigid police
regulations and supervisory inspection. Tbst
large revewue might be raised by the H.
&C nses; and in this connection, the advocate
Of the bill might refer to the time, some thir-
ty years ago, when the iscome from the H.
censed gaming houses in New Orleans
amounted annually to more than thirty thou
sand dollars. That the revenue thus raised
was appropriated to the support ofthe Chair
ty Hospital, aud was at that day sufficient for
the purpose.
Now we should say Of course that the
whole thing is mere financial matter, and
aims to introduce elements Of revenue, that
certainly are not legitimate, and that ought
by no means, to be recognized or sanctioned.
What else woul tile licensing Of gambling
houses be, than declaration by the State. &c
gamblers, thieves and robbers, ;,i,a. ;;iney NAV
publicly and with impuni,y, defraud and
ss~~;ndle the unwary portion of the commu
nifty, upon paying certain SUM Of money te
the State for the privilege! Ii would like,
wise be construed by the young and unsus
pecting, (the class most likely to fail vic
tins as direct sanction by the supreme
power of the State, Of the practice of gam
! bling, provided the gambling is done in E
public gaming house. How much greater
too the number would be, Of those exposed Il
the temptation presented by the public es
Establishments. Hundreds and thousands igh
be ruined by exposure to the temptation thus
offered, who might not even hear Of the exis
tence Of private gaming. But would public
gaming houses break up or Suppress private
gaming! Most assu,edlv they would not
The number OF the secret establishment:
would not be materially reduced, because
they would be kept up to accommodate thos
who through fear Of exposure, would neve
be seen a: the public establishments.
But if Legislators take step in the wron!
direction, if they repudiate all obligation to
guard The public morals, and establish tn
precedent OF adopting III theif hpahc'a' meas
ures elements of revenue that ar not apprc
ved either by sound policy or healthy public
sentiment, to wha: consequences might
not lead Are there not other vices tina
might also be turned to account as object
Of revenue! And this system once adopte
by granting licenses for gaming why shonl
it not be extended to every vice and immors
e practice that prevails in the land If ono
: established as legitimate, We see NO reaso
$ why it should not be carried out even to tn
v granting Of indu'gences. Every den OF in
e fanny then that "payed " something, on
=, law givers would say:
-" is like the durg ~herewah The farn'
j. feeds his hungry acres
1t sinks and is Of USE