The Monitor. [volume] (Woodstown, N.J.) 1884-1892, 1884-07-04

sideration and as our friends seem disposed to
evade the only real point at issue, they are
welcome to have the field to themselves.
CITIZEN.
New York has upon her statute books Sc
we're laws against gambling in every form.
These enactments reach pool sellers, bunco
operators, three card monte men, and every
game of chance but, strange as it may seem,
it is imperative against the worst class of
gamblers in the country. We are absolutely
straining at gnats and swallowing white ele-
phants SO long as the ways of Wall street
are tolerated.
1t is called specializing in stocks" but it
bears about the same relation to honest bust
ness as does betting upon horse race or
upon elections When man is caught sell
ing pools for horse race he is arrested, and
when he bets upon political favorite is de-
barred from voting at that election but when
one sells pools on grain, provisions, cotton or
stocks, it is called honorable business-pro-
vided he does it in Wall street.
sand shares of Central Pacific or other stocks,
when bets G that another party who buys
this stock will pay in advance upon AS price,
or bets that the next sale will be point
lower Thus the betting goes on, until for
every legitimate transaction there are score
of bets made; and this is the usual method of
doing business in Wall street.
The passion for gaming and betting appears
to be on the increase in this country. There
is not a horse race at which thousands of dol
lars do not change hands, or any great public
event that pools are not privately made up on
the result This practice has become SO COM
mon that the clerks in nearly every large es-
tablishment in New York are in the habit OF
getting up pools among themselves upon
everything from smuggling match to. presi-
dental candidate. The passion has even in
vaded the churches, and has become SO notori-
Gus at church fairs that the clergy have been
compelled to openly denounce it, and IN some
instances pastors have refused to receive the
money obtained through the grab-bag or by
selling 800 worth of tickets for an article
worth only few shillings Upon a recent
occasion stole was voted for, which was to
be presented to the favorite priest who re-
ceived the majority. The article was worth
about fifty dollars but several hundred dollars
were raised. Upon its being sent to the
priest he, to his credit, refused to receive it..
as he could not conscientiously wear it, COM
ing in such q way In another case scandal
was created through law suit brought to re-
cover piano which had been rallied off at a
fair, in which cheating was charged.
Church stews with one lonesome oyster
floating around are to be expected, and every
body who attends a fair expects to pay double
what an article is worth. There is nothing
wrong about that but when dice box is
brought into requisition to decide who gets a
watch, diamond pin or piano, it creates pas
sion for games of chance, and it leads to buy
ing pools, the lottery, and to Wall street
The craze to get rich rapidly is universal
Nearly everybody is looking for some lucky
turn of the wheel of fortune by which they
can become millionaires without working and
the record of suicide and crime which has re-
suited from disappointment is frightful one
1t is reported that an immense amount of
money changed hands recently upon steam
ship race across the Atlantic. This competi-
ton among passenger vessels may yet result
in serious mishap. 1t creates desire among
the officers to come in ahead, and in doing SO
they will be likely to run dangerous chances,
which will some day cause terrible catastro-
phe. 1t is said the passengers themselves are
as anxious and excited as the officers and
they have nobody to blame when they find
themselves on the "wet express to Davy
Jones locker.
Another favorite game is draw poker, and
it counts among its votaries senators, judges
merchants, and large percentage of women.
1t runs from five cents up into the thousands
of dollars. Thus far this game is rather re-
spectacle, but it will soon be on par with
the sweat board and let us hope the specu-
lators of Wall street will soon be on q par
with the bunco steerers and policy men,
Hotel Gazette.
In Germany mild temperance movement
is in progress the Germans cannot yet mus
ter strength to adopt total abstinence. They
propose-some of them-to minimize their
rotations of beer, and at Berlin, Prison
Director Krohpe has startled the reformers