The weekly tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1891-1894, 1894-06-01
Gambling Among English Working
People.

feOple.
A current writer in one Of the politi-
cal weeklies of London, whose informa-
ton Is vouchsd for as being correct,
makes the startling statement that the
Withdrawing Of the race horse Cloister
from the grand national meeting in
volved the loss OF the part Of the work
ing people in the United Kingdom of
$40, 900, OO0-$5O, OO0, O0O-or as much
money as was involved in the notorious
Liberator companies fraud.
1t does not need to be pointed out that
this enormous sum could not be lost
through the cause assigned unless the
vice Of gambling had secured a deep and
firm foothold among the English masses.
According to the notes of recent observ-
ers of contemporary British life and
manners, the fact that so much money
could be put up by Englishmen Of the
lower walks on one sporting event does
not in any sense indicate the full extent
Of the mania among them.
There is gambling among the upper
classes, of course, and a great deal of it,
as all newspaper readers remember, In
royal and titled circles, but in the world
| of politics, Of literature, of science and
of culture, in England as in the United
States, the man or woman who will risk
money on the outcome of a horse race is
the exception, and not at all in conform
ity to the rule. Among the clerks, how
ever, the small shopkeepers, the serv-
ants and the laborers, the gambling
mania has assumed alarming proper
| tions, and the week of Cloister's with
drawal brought positive misery to the
homes Of thousands. 1t is stated, indeed,
that in many cases the week brought
ruin.
Although there is no such widespread
gambling mania in America as that
above described, yet it is true that the
curse of the racing bet has spread to an
unprecedented degree, especially in and
near the large cities. While those who
bet regularly on the races the season
through are not numerous, comparative
ly speaking, the number of those who
put up their money on the more famous
events like the Suburban Handicap, the
Kentucky Derby, etc, is very large and
is growing steadily. 1t was more than
100 years ago that the English govern
ment, recognizing the enormous dam
age the spread of the passion for gam
bling was working among E~nglishmen,
abolished the state lotteries, and the last
of the American lotteries, the Louisiana,
was done away with a short time ago.
Yet in both countries gambling is an in
creasing vice. In both countries thou
sands Of lives are wrecked every year
through devotion to the goddess of
chance.
We are probably speaking well within
the truth when we say that gambling on
the races is undoubtedly the most insid-
ious form Of the habit. Certainly it is
more easily INDUCED in than any other
except policy playing, and it possesses
certain elements of excitement that dc
not obtain with policy which add great.
ly to its seductiveness. Without the aid
of the telegraph, over which the subtle
electric current carries news of tht
races to the poolrooms without sensible
loss of time, it would not be possible fol
men and boys to indulge their propensi
ty 10 gamble on the races unless they
were present in person when the running
was done. In this case, therefore, it il
evident that a noble discovery has beer
turned to base and hurtful uses.