New-York tribune., 1867-09-02
THE ASSOCIATED TIGERS.


Not being ourselves given to personal con-
tests with the tiger, we are not pre-
pared to say that there is not some rare,
occult, mysterious virtue III gambling. The
bankers who manage the tables, and, as Car
lyle says, emit the voice OF destiny" do
unquestionably find their business profitable
but what the victims gain except poverty,
wretchedness chronic fever, multiplied disap-
pointments. mOnOmania and sometimes sudden,
self-in6icted death, is more than we are at pres
ent informed Of Yet the prOprietOrs OF the
hells the monte players, the keno-bankers, the
lottery-deal the policy writers, have actually
had the impudence to form an ASSOCIATION 1or
mutual protection and the defense OF their cier-
ished rights and most respectable vested inter
ests Gambling they consider to be as good
business as any other; the attempt to put IL
down is an infringement of personal liberty;
the right of the citizen to ruin or to be ruined
is endangered To he sure, there never was a
mOralist or satirist who wrote upon the topic
who did not set down gambling as equally
wicked and foolish. Such is the sum total OF
the general opinion of mankind. Even gamblers
themselves have assented to Its truth. The Rev.
Mr.. Cotton, the author of "LacOn," although a
clergyman, was famous blackleg. yet he
sometimes preached against cards and dice,
and ended by blowing out his brains, OF which
Inc had prodigiOus quantity. We all know
the evils of gambling, but will not Mr.. Moriissey
or Mr.. b. Wood be kind enough to instruct Ills
in its benefits and adyantagesg We do not, OF
course, alludc to the money which they pouch;
we quite comprehend that agreeable feature OF
the business; but how does it profit the losers
who are rcmorselessly depleted and then flung
out upon the pavement like squeezed oranges
How does it improve the heade How does 1t
benefciay affect the heart3 What is there III
it which can make it the honorable occupation
of life-time7 In what respect is it manly
resource7 What is the proportion of the
paupers to the millionarics among those who
give themselves up to itf If the ablest man
among the deyOtees of play will answer us
these questions candidly he will probably tell
us that gambling is nearly certain ruin to nlne-
tenths of its professors that it is apt to pro-
duce a chronic craze that it makes men hard,
and pitilcss, and selfish; that it is the devourer
of fortunes, the bane of domestic happiness,
the pervcrter of generous natures, and the
ruin of both the intellectual and the physical
powcrs. These are facts which all mankind
has always acknowledged.
Now suppose that an Association for the
Promotion aud Dissemination of Cholera and
Yellow Fever were set on foot, we Will say
(begging their pardon) by the Doctors OF Medl-
cine Suppose the learned gentlemen made no
conceamcnt of their disagreeable purpose, but
actually advertised it in the newspapers. Sup
pose, upon being demonstrated with, they
should answer that they wanted to make
money and had taken this course to provide
themselves with plenty of patients. Suppose,
upon being taken into custody, as they GER
tainly would be, they should set up IN in
dignant howl ut the infringement upon their
personal rights should write in strain of in
lurcd innocence TO the newspapers should form
themselves into a society, and employ the best
lawyers to be had for money, and file bills,
and bring actions, and make up test cases, and
generally vindicate their right to get living
by the death of their fellow creatures! 'What
sis the use" they might argue, of our having
all this knowledge and wisdom, all these gal
"lipots and mOrtars. and pestles, and plll ma
chimes il we are not to make money out OF
them ~ SO might also reason Mr. Sabeshin,
the gcntlemany proprietor of iirst-rate hell.
Here am he says, " handsomely set up III
business, with every convenience for plucking
" the pigeons, with plenty of tables, and boxes,
g and dice, and cards; with choice stock of
liquors in my brilliant bar; with roomy and
elegant apartments; and | am actually asked
L" to give up my lucrative business because GER
" tain asses think it immoral I'll see them
G. Grstw So says one of them; so say al
of them; and the result is associated defiance
and "A general combination to Outwit the laws.
We do not know precisely what course the
Worshipful Fraternity of Keno-players mean
to adopt, but it is pretty hard to imagine any
decently honorable way which is open to them
The laws against them are plain; the ofiense
is simple and easily proved Of course, we
would not rashly underestimate the force,
power, shrewdnesss. and ready resources of two
or three hundred desperate gamblers; but II
the Courts do their duty the business is
doomed to a considerable diminution OF its inn
punities and profits. 1t evidently intends to
make pretty stiff fight, and to save as much
out of the fire as possible Its course, nsolent,
resolute, and impentent, only shows how much
an Anti Gambling Society was needed.
--
D \