Daily Richmond Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1861-1862, 1861-12-07

true but not whit truer than that they are neverthe-
less above and beyond all denial gam,ers-often reck.
less gamblers do not employ the term in It's techni
cal but its literal sense and between fair game OF
faro and sharp trade in cotton there exists but one
striking difference In the cotton opera d6r, ten thou
sand words intercbanged and II is ra-ey ever the
that ten thousand words nterchangsd without
the direct sometimes innocent other times malignant
iuicon Of more less damage upon the truth Where
as at faro, not word is tpoken-if you wiu you do
not have to lie to do it. and il you losc your last dollar,
you then quote the message Of Francis the First to
his mother: "Al is lost save honor"
Gambling is source falling source, Of excite
mont. Excitement men must have. It is necessary
to their happiness atmosphere is to their existence
Every living is to extent aud in some form an
enthusiast Some are affected with passion for one
thing, some for another. Sculpture, painting music,
,chanisn, metaphysics mesmerism astronomy, anato
my, geology botany, chemistry, ,eoquenes, poetry
all have their vo.Ares Their avorite passion ia hobby
on which the pant up Utica" of their feelings can take
a morning or an evening ride and get airing. Now,
Suppose man does not happen to be blessed with an
eaboratey cultivated intellect q naturally refined
taS.e what interest caa be ID in Of Riphaers car
toons IOanoyas busts HomerS poems or Cicero's ora
tons? Yet may he not be affected with the ire
pressOe passion the same burning thirst for excitement
tna makes enthusiasts Of other mens Certainty he may
and when we look around US in the world, we fad that
out of every hundred in it, ninety nine OF them
have cultivated card enthusiasm and any law which
strikes At the fulas. and frees fruton Of pet passion
OF tho million il bound the combstive prnpen
sites Of the masses aud they will eternsly thUsr snc
foil its execution. They do il and they will Every
Law ia pound TO be dead letter when the esolue ener-
ges of active people Arrayed in open hostility
against il, and they always will be arrayed against any
law which they either feel or conceive sbrdges their
personal rights and privileges dscrmiuates against
them in favor Of higher and cultivated classes Of
society.
They say we do not object that this man shall know
the "local habitaon and the name" of every "brght
particular star" in Heaven and worship them all if he
wants to- that that shall have bed Of roses
which to sleep and dream OF flowers that never fade
We are willing that the lovers Of music shall have
perpetual concord Of sounds" to seenade them
and that tho lovers Of eloquence may imagine If they
please that, at this late day, they distinctly
hear the dying reverberaous the mighty hunders that
burst thousands Of years ago, from the lips Of Demos
themes. We care how mad your literary sci en-
tifc enthusiasts ruu, nor how furouay they ride thr
'hob5ies. All we ask is, that when want to mount
they shall not be uncersmonously taken from
aud impounded is idle then, to talk about suppress
ing gambling. You might as well think of storming
Fortress Monroe with p,pgun closing up the crater
Of Mount Vssuvus with cob-web. The men who pass
laws against it will themselves violate the laws they
enact and the you may appont to execute the said
laws to-day were, in all prob ,bity buckng the Tiger
yesterday and If they do do 1t to-day with their
commissions in their pocket, will if they at all given
TO scrupes Of conscience lay down their comm sions to
hunt the jungle of the spotted varmint tomorrow.
Under such circumstances what ia the best thing we
do' answer if cannot put it down, let us d.
minish it much possible, and relieve it of all the
odium it may be in power to remove from it. As
nation we are in our infancy. The old United States
but in its swadiling garments when tore away
from and tore away the best portion Of its oothes Its
history furnishes lesson from the study Of which
can profit in effort to suppress any description Of
vice. We will have, then, to make trip across the
ocean and look into the history of older governments,
aud study the operations of their laws against gambling.
For thousand years legislation against it tried
in vain in Europe. Within the last fifty year, however
legislation has taken ii under its protection there and
the result is favorable to its dimnutioD. In Germany
aud France gambling is Iegaizsd, and taxed gambling.
houses licensed and regulated by law and the result
Is that they source Of revenue to the government
arc conducted with p?opriety and integrity, and that
there is not much gambling ss there when they
we're conducted secretly against the law. Let then
our Legislature pass act licensing gambling, and fix
the license at high fgurs.
Let the law require that every applicant for license
shall give bond in the sum Of fifty thousand dollars for
the honest and upright management Of his establish
ment, aud the promp. payment Of all its losses. Then
make all manner of cheating at all of games,
elonies and when the keeper of gaming house is
viced of violation Of this law, make the penalty for
feiture Of his license, forfeiture Of his bond in ad d.
ton to the further penalty Of ten years imprisonment
a. hard labor in the Pebenti.ry. Then make felo
ny for any to either keep, or frequent and bet in
an unlicensed gaming house. Who can be found then
reckless enough to visit such house. with the hungry
jaws Of the State Prison yswuing upon him, when he
can enjoy precisely the sape privilege under the shell
terng wing of the law TIE total abolition OF all small
gambling houses will be the Immediate and inevitable
result.
Three reasons can be given to Justify this conclu-
sion In tte first place, not than gambler in
fifty can give the bond. Secondly, nobody will patron
izs an unlicensed house; and thirdly If they attempt to
do it. the law against and will be enforced The
peiudces of the public will be aroused against any mar
who will seek to eyade conpanc. With the law, tha
has for its object the regulation of bis honesty anil
they will feel that his object to cheat svindle de
fraud and rob the public and that he richly deserves to
be branded felo1, and locked up In the State Prison
Az the law now stands, man can swindlo you out Of
your last dollar at cards and then tell you that you
sucker, aud laugh in your face with impunty. Make
il feoay to cheat at cards, and you vii! abosh bal
the games that are played, and drive men, who now
live by cheating and swinding, into honorable avocs-
tions.
Put down small gaming houses, aud you will achiev'
u-,,-:,o ,,oio,y ovar gaming itsef Ia In thee,