Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1891-06-10
ROYALTY AND BlCCARAT.

LonD CoLERtDoE was Ia a tight
place yesterday. His dilemma, We
will venture 10 say, was as justly per.
picking as any that ever bcfuddicd the
hnin OF British Lord chief Justice.
ifthe case upon which he was 10 In
struct tho jury had been the simple
oHc Of deciding whether Sir William
Gordon Cumming had forfeited his
claim 70 England. respect and con-
idcncc through being caught cheating
at haccarat an ordinary magistrate
could have presided at the trial with
all the dignity and sobcrncss and
legal discfeation required. In that
Gaze the average English jury
would have dismissed the business
without retiring from their seats, lcav-
Ing with the Justice the pleasing duty
Of reading To the English public over
Sir william Gordon Cummings
shoulder, u moral lecture on gambling.
The people Of England have cause
10 rgFot that such duty was not lef,
at this critical moment 10 such ius-
ticc. A few simple words, properly
chosen-such words M an honest ooun.
try squire would be- most likely 10 use-
would have been the slogan Of tuyo-
luton. There being no Prince Of
Wales In the question, he would have
spoken the sentiments Of tho people
ana hia words instead Of being hlsscd,
as were Lo.d Colcridse's, would have
gone "rlnglng down the ages"
The difficulty In LORI Colrldge's
situation was not the Justice but tho
dilemma Of the ease. There was a
prince In the Transaction. On the one
side was the prcsllge Of royalty, and on
the other was tho sentiments Of the
English mAsses against tho gambling
shame In general and royal gambling
Ia particular. Before him, Ia an ~.
scmbly Of his counirymen, WINS the
index Of English character and rgpu.
tatlon, and In Il lao could read n
universal cry Of shame upon tho
gambler.
At his elbow was tho gambler him.
self, pcr-onAt-d by the heir TO tho
Eagllsh throne, aud surrounded by a
group VI the leading arlsloemoy Of tho
realm. Himself an Aristocrat and n
member Of n succession Of Judicial
whilewashcFa OF tue throne, which
had withstood the rrbulh of
centuries Of progression, what was my
Lord Justice TO dot lilo was truly In
"a tight place. He yielded TO his tradi.
lions Instead Of tho people, IA usual,
aud after practically instruotlng the
Jury To ilud against Sir William Cor.
don Cumming, he proceeded 10 apollo.
gi1e for tho Prince Of Wales; aud
thoreupon the audience Kissed.
While tho result Of tho trial upon
Cumming will be disastrous, the effect
upon tho gambling disgrace, which ~
far o. the public we're concerned was
the main question at issue, viii DO hilly
az paralyzing N though the whole
gambling outfit who took part In tho
Tmnby Cron scandal had been pun.
ished for slanderlng Cumming.
In the public mind tho question
whether Cumming cheated or did mol
cheat will cut but small figure. Tho
fact Is too thoroughly appreciated, that
gambling Is cheat, for tho gem
opl public 10 make any mic,
distinctions "a TO details. The bcnnd
alous Interpolation u Lord Coleridgo
that he "could not imagine how any
harm could DO done to the monarchy,
to the Prince, or to anyone else" 10y
this affair at Wilson's resort, will not
count. ON that matter public opinion
IL lrrovocably fixed.
The sympathy shown for Cumming
should not be mistaken for any sane
ton Of hla conduct. The Kisses h
court were siubtelly expression
Of disgust, that he probably the nobl
est Englishmsn OF them ali should b.
the scapegoal Tor the whole disreput-
able crowd. The London Times II