The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-08-11
Gambling That Hurts.

The report that Savannah.is to have
Law and Order League naturally causes
surprise. There does not seem TO be a
condition Of affairs in this city that
calls for an organization of that kind
This city and county are pretty well sup
piled with courts and officers whose duty
1t is TO see that the laws are enforced
There are two high grade courts having
criminal jurisdiction, a police court,
sixteen committing magistrates, a solicit
tor general, several detectives, a large
police force, besides a sheriff, deputy
sheriffs and a lot of constables.
Outside of the ignorant portion of the
colored people aud small element of
white roughs, the county and city are
reasonably free from lawless characters.
1t is true that an occasional murder is
committed, and it Is regrettable that if
the murderer is white he stands pretty
good chance of being set at liberty. The
black murderers are, as a rule, hanged,
as they, Of course, deserve to be. There
is also an occasional white forger or de-
faulter, but if he does not succeed in hav-
ing his crime Combined and covered up he
puts himself beyond the reach of the
officers Of the law. But there is nothing
in all this that calls for Law and Order
League.
Possibly it is the purpose of the pro-
posed Law and Order League to run the
gamblers out of town and shut up the
gambling shops. If that is the work the
proposed Law and Order League intends
to do, attention should be given to white
gamblers as well as black II cannot
help being noticed that the officers of the
law are particularly active in raiding
places where black gam blers assemble. 1t
is rather a rare thing that the grand jury
is called upon to find indictments
against white gamblers. Why is this
so! The black gamblers should, of
course, be punished but there should be
as much zeal in hunting for places where
whites gamble as there is for places
where blacks assemble to risk their nick
els and dimes.
But, after all, is there not a more dan
gerous and ruinous kind of gambling than
that carried on by means of cards, or
roulette or other gambling devices? What
about the seductive cotton futures Any
body who can get together a few dollars
can now bet whether the price of cotton
will go up or down. Is not gam bling in
futures, as matter of fact, the
kind Of gambling that hurts How
many every year, from the Of
flee boy who purloins stamps to
get few dollars to put up as a margin,
to the trusted man of affairs, having in
charge vast interests because of the con-
tidence reposed in him, are wrecked and
ruined by the seductive cotton futures
Most of those who are hurt by this kind
OF gambling manage to conceal their
wounds, but there are some to whom con-
cealment is impossible, because they
have sacrificed their integrity and vio-
lated the laws to get the means with
which they hoped to make fortunes
Their exposure brings grief and misery to
their families and sorrow to those who
trusted them.
Cotton future gambling is looked upon
as reputable gambling, and yet it does
more harm than the kind that is done
behind guarded doors and closed blinds.
The proposed Law and Order League
could not reach this kind of gambling
through legal means, but it could have an
influence in favor of laws that would les
sen it to such an extent that financial
wrecks and criminals would not be made
by it in almost every community.