The Daily bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Hawaii]) 1882-1895, 1884-07-29

true that the bill has been with
drawn. There is therefore no occa-
sion for dwelling on all the evils such
bill had it passed would have
brought on this community But
have we therefore no duty to per- |
form? If terrible calamity in
volving loss of life and limb has |
been narrowly escaped, it would be |
folly not to inquire into the causes
which rendered it imminent as mar
rowly as though it had actually
happened. And so when we arc
threatened with moral evil, the
fact that we are saved from its
immediate inhiction, should he re-
garded as an opportunity granted us
to make provision that such a curse
may never be imposed upon this
country. First of all, that u ma
jority of the Legislature should have
allowed such n bill to be introduced
is undergoing moral declension.
Whilst Honolulu has gone on flatter-
ing itself that it is a most pious and
religious community, tares have been
sown among the wheat which have
grown apace. Nor can we expect
to uproot them. The Introduction
of this bill shows us that the spirit
of gambling is abroad in our midst.
OF the evils that gambling entails,
it is unnecessary to speak here.
They are SO great, that every civil
lized nation finds it necessary to
make laws for its suppression. The
fact that such legislation should be
necessary makes it evident that there
is strong tendency to indulge in
the practice. But though legisla-
ton may suppress vice, laws will
not make people virtuous. This
is the office of the church teaching
and enforcing the commandments of
God which touch the motives of
human conduct as we'll rs the out
ward acts. Let us observe first
where the sinfulness of gambling
lies. On the part of the winner of
any prize there is clear and dis
tinct breach Of the eighth command
ment. He is enriched at the expense
of the losers who receive no equiva-
lent whatever for the money the
winner puts into his pocket. The
author of the "Wealth Of Nations"
speaking on this subject says-'The
world neither ever saw nor ever will
see q perfectly fair lottery" Yet
in spite of this unfairness which is
in their very nature, the unlawful
| gains it gives to a few, and the
losses it entails on the many, the
same author makes the following
statement-''T sobered people
scarce look upon it as folly to pay
small sum for the chance of gain
ing ten or twenty thousand pounds. "
But regarded in the light of the
Word of God, to take ticket in a
lottery be the prize large or small
is worse than folly, it is sin.
1t is the outcome of that desire of
gain which the tenth commandment
expressly forbids, involving not
merely the desire of other mems
goods, but the hope of obtaining
them by the cast of dice or the
drawing of ticket. The success of
lotteries depends then on the covet-
BUSINESS of mankind. They stimu-
late one Of the most sinful propen-
sites of our race, the indulgence of
which undermines and destroys the
habits of honest industry, and is
directly opposed to the spirit of the
Gospel, as expressed in the text.
The office of the church in the world
is to counteract the evil and selfish
tendencies of mankind, to keep
before the redeemed that life has a
higher aim than the accumulation
of wealth or the qualification of
self. What then is our
duty ut the present time? Clearly
to take heed and beware of covetous-
ness which lies at the root of that
evil with which we have been threat
ened, and which at any future time
may seek to be legalized in our