Idaho tri-weekly world. (Idaho City, Idaho) 1875-1875, 1875-03-17

lnoasibiiity II bis death, must . g n zee
upon the gambling mania 9 M
pie; .t Won reply the responsibility e.
Ds. - himself. He had no business
- -. o = ought 70 have know1
h ~ took his chances-lnesesu
oe' Timing he lost. To this ! answer :
y lot He did kno,O better-as al
who e ever sat with him at the gaming
table .I do. not one does not tno'0 oesi g:
T. 1t, vas IN not q lack Of knowledge on n's
n - +' bnt 9 lack Of true, honest regard
t P~'. others her. welfare on the part Of MS
," ~, vs rsined this man.
The social atmosphere which IL. ne
h ~. was pregnant with selfish.
uass His boon companions cared
not a whit for the calamity they saw
cat over his head. Their OBJ
!; ;ect was to get his money, and 'ney
~. i Some man holds in his hands the
5r;ce Of this mans blood. and the ret
r;butions of a just God will lind IT
some dav. The money taken from the
gaming table carries 3 curse WITH II
we cannot describe.
I do not believe however that my
friend was even temporarily insane
Int that he deliberately and premed'-
tatedIy took his own life. How then
can the responsibility belong to any
one else, Let us suppose q case;
Suppose band Of rufiians demand
the disgrace of your wife or daughter
or YOUR own hfc, and add that yos
must bc yom own murderer. In such a
case a man may voluntary d'e-he by
his own hand, but the responsibility
belongs to the one presenting the al
tentative. The choice was Influenced,
as il always is, by the strongest mo
tive but hc who presented the motive
or was the caasc Of It's presentation,
is clearly the responsible party. The
illustsat;on is not far-ie,ched the eases
arc similar. Mr.. Thompson took his
own life rather than bear the disgrace
and humiliation which he saw incs1ta-
bic before him-and the blame OF hrs
death rests upon that social practice
which, reduced him 10 that painful al
,erna,ive-upon the gambling mania
for which this place has been and is
noted. IL doesn't alter the case al all
Ia SAY these are not sufficient reasons
to Justify man in taking his own life.
To his mind they were sufficient, and
and upon that view Though wrong
in itself lac acted, aud in any fair
equation of the responsibility. this
community will come in for It's share
lc; il be- remembered too tina, this
habi, II gambling rs no, a passive ir.
responsible state II society. ], is a
business. having its objects. its plans,
It's results jus, rs other businesses
have, aud wc should hold it RESPONSE.
bic just as We d" tr physician. the
merchant. the mechanic. Ii is a sub.
tile system Of prcnci,atcd robbery
tia, has It's deceptive aIlurcmcn,s, It's
cheats, It's tricks. It's secrets.
We cannot declare martial law and
drum every n.an cut III our community
VIII" darcs engage in gambling. Tia,
Is not the way 10 cure the evil: bet
ter way is Ia le; t,nsc mcn wlu arc
permanently here discoun,cnaucc the
practice. The professional gamblers
could not. nor would they try very
long to carry on their vocation here II
the citizens II the place did not TN.
courage them. We must reach the
popular mind with the light Of reason.
experience, history and religion. We
must turn over new leaf and Invite
into our community rcformatory efforts.
lspcak only the common belief Of
outsiders when ! say that Idaho CITY
has improved in morals, so,ncwha, at
least since they have had regular
preaching, and because Of this fact.
As much encouragement AZ ever / met
with in this place was from nv friend
IhompSon--alaa that hc sho.il H.,