The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1883-11-27
THE GAMBLING MANIA,

the extent OF the evil is once realized it will
by some means be abated. That it is more
harmful to the morals of the people and
more disastrous in its effects upon business
than all other species of gambling combined
will not be denied by any candid man who
has given this matter attention. Few realize
the extent this disreputable business has
reached, and have no idea that it permeates
all branches of society, not only in cities
that have regularly organized business
bodies, but in hamlets that would be horri-
fed were any other kind of gambling sug-
gested 1t has gone further than this; and
many of the men who have devoted their
lives to the raising of grain now dabble in
margins, hoping thereby to obtain wealth
more rapidly and more easily than by fol-
lowing the pillow and gathering the slow
harvests. Day after day the warning is re-
peated in vain. Men in positions of trust
become defaulters and men once wealthy are
driven to penury in the hope of calling the
turn" on the unreal price of certain commod-
gamblers of greater resources The glittering
temptation seduces men from every walk Of
life. Victims have been found all along the
way, from the man who sits on the judges
bench to him who stands behind BARRIERS
chair. Some have put in thousands, and
many have put in hundreds. All, as a rule,
have been swindled, and shame and poverty
have come to hundreds of households
that would still be bright and
happy and comfortable but for this destroyer
of domestic peace and manly honor, The
news columns are filled with reports of defal-
cations, forgeries and theft induced by the
madness that results from this one prolific
source of evil These are but a few of the
very many who are stripped and spoiled of
their possessions. A large per cent. of the
failures in legitimate business arise from sur
reptitious IDEALS" in wheat, in pork, or in
stocks. Tyros in the business, men
who could not tell mo. 2 red''
from rejected" put up their scanty
earnings as boldly and confidently as does ne
who has millions ct his command and who
may make and unmake the market at will.
That they stand no chance of winning against
such odds, is not to be wondered at. 1t is a
"brace game" from beginning to end, and the
small fry are sure to be skinned. 1t is only
are scarce, that the true bulls and "bears'
turn attention to each other. When wal
ues" are fuctuating and patrons are numer-
Gus, they are too busy plucking outsiders to
care for anything else, and those inside act
in collision to "work" outsiders for all they
are worth. Occasionally for time certain
ones not in the ring may be ahead but it is
only for time, and in the end they are left
poorer than when they began. This is the
experience everywhere. The exceptions are
only exceptions As rule, the margin deal
er must be alert, constituencies and crafty
AS well might lamb run with wolves and
expect to come out with a whole skin as for
an amateur to attempt to beat the expert
enced in dealing in margins
is the fact that this business" is being COM
PEELED to stand under the stigma of
gambling. 1t is nothing better, and, in some
respects, is worse than betting at faro or on
game of poker. If there were such a thing
as honest faro or honest poker, either would
be eminently more respectable. than
is stock or grain gambling. The
bucket-shop, the legitimate off-shoot of the
board of trade which permits gambling to
be its principal business, is but a place
where the public can bet on the price of any
commodity or stock in process of manipu-
lation by a board of trade somewhere. If
wheat is quoted at Chicago at $1.05, he who
thinks it will decline bets certain amount
that it will, aud puts up stake to guaranty
that he will make the bet good if he loses
But, to make it legitimate and "honorable,"
certain formalities are employed and certain
subterfuges are resorted to. If man wishes
to bet 500 on the decline of wheat ne
puts up that amount when a check
is given him to show that he has bought say
1000 bushels OF wheat, at $1.05, at Chicago
and has deposited cents per bushel, or 500,
as a margin to insure the dealer against loss
in case the price of wheat goes up instead of
down. Suppose the price goes up to $1.07
the margin is exhausted and the dealer
pockets it. That is, the. outsider has lost $50
and the gambler who owns the shop has won
that much. If the price had gone
down to $l.O3 the dealer would have
given the operator that much, for
in the bet the latter had won. 1t is
the himsiest nonsense to speak of this kind