The Waco daily examiner. [volume] (Waco, Tex.) 187?-1888, 1885-03-15
The Gambling question.

tht nHHhbtbhS VutsthOhs
The legislature of Texas is tackling
the great crying aud most destructive
evil of the day, and it is not doing 1t
in earnest. 1t is toying with the evil
which is doing more than all .othc' in
fluences combined to lower the stand
ard of public morality and foster the
upgrowth, dishonesty and uncleanli-
ness, instead of attacking it in dead
earnest and bringing against it, ms ii
should, the deadly force of a roundly
repressive law backed by an almost
undivided public opinion. Any gam
bling law, any law made to deal with
or repress the vice which stops short,
of felony as its ultimate punishment.
is not only ridiculous in and of itself,
but it is actually encouragement for
the votaries of the vice. Suppose we
were to fix the penalty for grand lar
ceny at confinement in the county
Jail for three months and a iine of $500,
would not that encourage the crimi-
nails? Would it not put new energy
into the actions of the thievesp We
knew ofone instance in this city where
young man lost thousand dollars
at a single sitting Mt poker. We're we
to catch him in his cooler moments
and ask him what penalty should
be assessed against his robbers, he
would say ten years in the pcnitcn-
tiary with fine that would cover the
entire earthly possessions of the gam.
blers. Should the bill rs it stands
now in the senate become law, il
would leave the question just where
it found it. There would be only
one pcrceptiblc advantage III
the thing, and that is
the discussion it has evoked has plant.
cd seeds in the public mind which art
certain sooner or later to bear fruit
meet for repentance. Eyes have beer
opened TO the enormities OF the indus
try % as they have never before been
and every time a new idea against the
vice is implanted that much good has
been obtained, and the fruition vii
lie the ultimate destruction of gam
blers and gambling.
We dare not recede from the posi-.
ton assumed at the outset, or assumed
many years since, that this unholy
v-uuppvurcsrr rosters, is actively NO
war with the laws of both God and
man, and against all the dearest inter-
ests subserved by these enactments.
The vice is OF such nature that il
brutalizes men as hardly ANYTHING
else does. Note the men who pursue
1t as profession. 1t is quite true
that now and then we find comps-a-
lively decent men so engaged. But
take the mass of the mon known as
gamblers, can they be trusted ? Would
any head of family invite them with
in its charmed circle? Would any
father wed one of these to his pure
minded and mworldly daughter
Nay, would he not rather follow her
to the grave than sec her in the arms
OF the felon, who as business of his
lite, takes enormous sums from his
fellow man without rendering an
equivalent, and who spends his nights
and his days in all msrrer of pu-
clean excitement, in drunken
wassail, and in debauching
the young and the uususpeetinp
Now 1t may be fault of ours, but
really we can see but little difference
between professional aud an
amateur gambler. Perhaps the only
difference is lack of finish by the
amateur which the professional has.
but this is far more than compensated
for blythe greater means of mischief
possessed by the former. Men know
ing the professional would avoid him
but in their ignorance OF the true
VI WV hhhttuI WOuiu Sunk
INTO his trap aud become his victim
'rc he knew that he was in the hands
If a robber.
No,.the Only way 90 deal with this
vii isto confront IL sternly with all |
he forces of morality. The law, pub
ic opinion and the sure, degradation
which the felony feature would iusure.
i've these tolerated violators. these
licensed robbers, the "hot end of the
'oker," is the soundest theory, the
urest remedy, 1t is the only way TO
cal with the evil. The gloyed hand
ever grasped the hilt of the sword in
arrest, Men put these on only on
ress parade. When the hour of real
truggle comes they strip, and II Is
old steel aud naked skin. So Is;
Fhen we get ready to fight in earnest
gainst the vices of the day which
re so destructive we WIN LAUNCH
J the ,orrors OF the law backed by
le stern, ylndictive energy of n
liiized aud determined, but ont.
Ised, public sentiment.