The Coconino weekly sun., 1894-11-08


 J. GUTHRIE SAVAGE. c. T. II. R. DAVIS, Secretary. At recent meeting in Montreal, Miss Frances E. Willard said: "I was reading in the paper about young nan of 22 who could go mile on his bicycle in one minute and tifty-six sec 'nds, and read an interview with him. The newspaper man said to him, What suggestion have you for young nen for trainingp The answer was, Tell them never to touch intoxicating
 liquors, never to touch tobacco. to take eight hours sleep in twenty-four hours, 70 live simply If l had given the same answer to this question they would have said, Much she knows ,bout it. l am glad the young bicy- list answered as he did; the splendid advance in athletics is due to total ab- stinence on the part of many, and this well-known fact has won more victor ies for us than all the teetotalers ever assembled on platform"
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 One of the most prevalent, as it is one of the most pernicious, ideas that obtains among all classes of men, is the belief that to ''get something for nothing is not only desirable but con- mendable. Not only the idle and vic ious, but the wealth-producing mem- bers of society as well, are more or less imbued with this desire; and it finds expression through their partici- patton il games of chance, lotteries and other forms of gambling.
 There are few persons who would deny that gambling is an evil, and yet there are not many who really appre- ciate how great an evil it is. Let us look at some of the facts in relation to the subject.
 In the first place, there can be no question but that gambling in itself, is wrong and only wrong. This is true because it strikes at the fundamental principle which underlies all commer- cial and industrial relations, namely, lhe exchange of values. It is we'll defined principle of all true economic prosperity, that the endeavor for gain without the expenditure of commen- Surate effort or value of some kind, is always injurious to the best interests of society. This truth is recognized when the endeavOr takes the form of stealing; but iu the different, yet per nicious, form of gambling, it ic not so readily apprehended. It may be ob- jected that in the one case there i consent on the part of the loser, while in the other there IS not. But the con sent of the loser is not a willing and unconditional one, as in the case of gift; aud, further, as was well said from one of the pulpits of our town re- gently, the fact of consent no more iustiiies gambling, than the conseut of The participants in duel justiiies that practice; and society has the right and should exercise it, to object to either.
 In the second place, note the effect of this vice upon its devotees. Not only are they possessed with the desire to gain livelihood without labor, thus becoming parasites upon society; but, to quote the words which Bulwer puts into the mouth of one of the characters in his novel: "It is moral drunken ness that is worse than the physical" Aud this is assuredly the case, for there is no intoxication greater than that of the confirmed gambler. Reckless alike of opportunity or duty, his only pleas ure is found in the all-lbsorbing game. Business. social and family ties are disregarded, and even honor itself, for gotten; and whether it be hls own or another's money which comes into his hands, it is spent in the qualification of his master passion; while rarely in- deed does a victim escape from this monster evil.
 In the light of these facts (for such they unquestionably arc) it is incum- bent upon all good citizens to avoid this habit, either in it's more pro nounccd forms, or iu such milder forms as the shaking of dice for cigars, par ticipation in rallies. etc. Not, perhaps, that these things in themselves will