St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1894-01-21
LOTTERIES AND GAMBLING

The recent success of the government
in its contention with the Louisiana
State lottery, which has resulted in the
abandonment of the country by the lot
terry agents. gives promise of bearing
important fruit in more directions than
one. The lottery has gone, or is about
to go. from our shores, the company an
nounclng the purchase of an island off
the coast of Honduras, where it is
the intention to establish a gamblers
heaven, presided over by the goddess of
chance, more gorgeous than anything
ever attempted by the hand of man and
far exceeding in beauty of adornment
and seduetiveness of surroundings the
famous casino Of Monte Carlo. 1t is the
Intention Of the management to make
this island the paradise of sports. The
lottery. will not be its only attraction.
All games of haZard-faro, roulette,
baccarat, keno, policy, poker-in short.
every device and game ever invented
for the entertainment Of the specula-
lively inclined. will there find home
whose allurements and luxurIes will be
absolutely irresistible to those who
come within It's influence.
In some respects the determination of
the lottery company is to be COM
mended, in others deplored. It leaves
this country for the country's good,
and here its baneful influence will
he greatly lessened. Tens of thou
sands of people were lured into the
vortex of gambling every year owing to
the convenienceS the lottery afforded.
1t had the tacit sanction of the United
States government, for its unrestricted
use of the mails was interpreted by
many as an authoritative announce
ment that the government would not
endeavor to interfere with its business.
The newspapers advertised its draw
ingS openly in many states where no
law existed forbidding such publication !;
in other states they covertly contributed
to its success by recording fortunes
made by few by the investment of a
dollar or two in ticket to the draw
ings. They made no mention, how
ever, of the thousands of families re-
duced TO poverty through a surrender
to the mania for taking the chances in
hearts and ruined fortunes that were
the natural outgrowth of the nefarious
business. These are hidden from the
world. for the causes of the distress are
usually kept secret from their asSo-
ciates by the victims themselves.
Perhaps it is necessary that there
should be gambling houses. as some
claim. tosatisfy a natural craving. There
can be no doubt, however, that the pas
sion grows by indulgence. and many
who would otherwise have remained
free from the contagion become it's
victims simply because Of the conven-
fence of the opportunities. There is
nothing more attractive to the average
human being than promise of a fort
une for the investment of a trifie.
Failures only seem to stimulate the de.
sire for hazard. 1t is argued that luck
cannot always run in the same chan
nel-that there will be a change that
will bring fortune and a subsequent
life of ease and freedom from care. To
the thousands this change never comes.
They pour their money into the Golfers
of the gamblers in continual stream.
1t is like pouring water into a rathole.
The argument in favor of lotteries
and gambling generally is the same as
that used in favor of the federation of
all evils-that people will indulge IN it
with or without the sanction of the law,
and that the law is powerless to prevent
it; that mans money is his own. and
he has right to spend it as he chooses
that the business is a legiti mate one be-
cause it caters to natural craving; that
all forms of business. even those re-
garded as legitimate, are varying forms
of gambling; that no mau is compelled
to invest i'll such risks, and if he does it
lis of his own free will. There is too
wide recognition of these specious
arguments in other directions already:
it is necessary that it be curbed before
it has gone so far as to corrupt every
artery of society and to debilitate every
fiber of our social and economic system.
Gambling is vice, and should be for
hidden just as other crimes are forbid
den, and punished just as other offenses
against public morality are punished.
Some men may be naturally inclined to
the commission of murder; probably
they are. We know that many people
have natural propensity to steal, but
are kleptomaniacs, not thieves. Others
have a natural or acquired thirst for
alcoholic liquors. They are no longer
drunkards. but dipsomaniacss they are