Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1891-06-17
THE PASSION FOR GAMING.

In an article on this subject, the New
York Journal of Commerce says that tine
baccarat which led to the scandal at Tranby
Croft is game, when fairly conducted,
requiring no skill whatever. In THIS
country there are three classes of gambling
in popular use. Most, if not all of the games
with cards, as whist, euchre and poker,
give special advantages to the skiDful.
Billiards, nine-pins and the like depend
almost wholly on aptness and skill. Policy
playing and similar forms Of lottery gam
bling, the favorite resort of poorer classes.
are like baccarat, wholly games of "luck, I"
but unlike that simple game, the chances
are not equal between the holder of the
stakes and the poor dupes who invsst their
| money.
The larger losses in our day, and the
most ruinous gambling, are the wagers on
horse racing and the speculations on the
various exchanges, originally organized for
the purposes of trade. There are many
ruined homes that owe their desolation TO
the love of intoxicating drinks, but far
more that are the spoils of gambling.
There is no passion that leads so directly
to peculation and breaches of trust as this.
The player feels sure that he could win il
he had only the means of making another
venture. The luck cannot always be
againt him, and it must turn in his favor,
he feels sure, if he could secure one more
chance. So he takes the money or prop
erty of another and risks that which is not
his own in the hope Of recovering some
portion at least of that which he has lost,
The wrecked banks, the empty truasuries
of every form of trusts, the forged docu-
ments, the altered accounts, the robbed
money tills, all tell the same sad story.
The foundation of it all is the natural
selfishness of man. He wants something
for nothing; he would fill his pockets with
out bringing the beaded sweat upon his
brow. Or if willing to work, be is not sat
isfied with the slow accumulations that
come from the daily toll. He must fill his
pockets at once. He would ride in his car
rage now, He must make show in
society, and indulge in luxuries that money
alone can buy without waiting the long
years of thrift and economy that might
give him at last the means he SO greedily
covets. 1t is very common in thousands OF
homes to play some simple game with tri-
fling stakes "to give an interest" to the
pastime. Whist at one dollar game is
frequent amusement in good society, no
one calling it gambling. Railing for an
article worth five, ten, twenty or fifty dol
lars with chances at few cents or dollar
each is often part of the operations of
fair for religious or charitable purposes.
We have seen the glistening Of keen eyes
as the numbers were drawn and the eager
ness displayed even by the young children
in the effort to win the prize.
Legislation will not suppress the vice,
although it may drive some forms of it into
more private quarters. No true man or
woman ought ever to play a game for
money, even if only the smallest coin was
at stake. And the great games in stocks
and produce, and cotton and coffee, and
whatever elsa is nominally bought and sold
with the understanding that it is only a
wager on the price are of evil example, and
the dealers must cease TO play them before
there will be any lasting prosperity in the
country. The conflict of labor with capital
is rendered bitter because so many are iy-
ing on the toll of others and gambling for
money they have not earned. There are
warnings on every side, but the lesson is
slowly learned"