The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1895-12-21
SOMETHING FOR NOTHING.
A Paper Read Before the Wilmington,
Del, Preachers Association by
Rev. A. S. MOwbray, Pastor
of the ElktOn M. F.
Church, Dec. 10th,
1895.

Sometime ago when Hugh Price Hughes
was holding the concluding service Of the
annual series of his great London meetings
at st. James Hall, in which so many blows
are bravey dealt for all good movements. he
expressed himself as much surprised to dis
cover that in all that year no word had been
spoken on gambling. True to his habit OF
timclincss he laid aside what he had planned
and forthwith preached on that very import
ant subject
Imust confess my own surprise at the very
little agitation upon this subject, when it is
remembered that all thoughtful people r"rog-
ni2c its prominence among the agencies of
evil We rpreach many sermons against intem-
prraurc but how many Of us have preached
even one sermon in al our lives against the
equally rorrupting vic" OF gambling.
Possibly it has not occurred to some that
there is need Of it. Is then the vice of gam
bling prevalent one? The asking of such IL
question sounds ironicaI. bare catalogue
of the ways in which people engage in this
DESTROYING sin would crowd our spa"e Al
most everything in this life of uncertainty
Tho familiar methods of the race track or the
card table are still fourishng, but where
these are suppressed other methods are at
hand. Men gamble upon the weather. Two
men put up a wager of - upon which OF two
flies would fly first.
Probably more money changes hands as the
results of bets upon Il general election i'll this
country. than the cntir" cost of the campaign
including the immense sums spent for cor
ruption. | have known large sums Of money
to be wagered upon the weight OF hog. The
students of an American college recently put
up $4,000 upon the issue Of Il single game of
foot ball. The lady spectators on such ocra-
sions often become SO furious in their betting
rs to rob themselves of chains, rings, and
other rwelry. after they have consumed their
money! The fruits Of human industry are n
favoritc object of the gambler and while dice,
cards faro and tine like may reckon among
their votaries by far the largest numbers, yet
the money involved is small beside that staEed
upon the price Of wheat, corn barley. oats
cotton or railroad stocks. A committee ap-
pointed by the New York Legislature some
wears ago. ascertained that in three given
years the cash sales Of wheat at the New York
Produce Exchange amounted to over
s24i 100000, while the "opton sales" en-
braring what are known on change as
puts and "calls.' "long.' and short
Futures and ''straddles.n amounted to
fl.154. .2G7 900. This vast sum, nearly five
times the former 'represcntS exclusively the
stake OF gamblers ut the Produce Exchange
alone, in Il single city on single agricultural
product during the short period of three
years This committee also found out that
gambling was done on oats, barley, rye,
potatoes and the like, as well as pork, ard
and nearly all staple products" 1T was
also shown that the amount thus stakcd upon
the course of the market in Milwaukee, was
fully Us much us. and in Chicago, was prob
ably double the amount staked in New
York" 'When to this we add the sums
stalied upon the fluctuations of the maket at
the stock, cotton, mining and other exchanges.
we find the amount bought and sold i. e.
changed hands rs bets will probably equal,
every three years, the value of the entire
property of the nation.' In the two cities of
New York and New Orleans, over 70.000,00O
bales of cotton are annually sold by this gam
bling process. while 5000 ,000 bales will count
the entire cotton crop of the nation for the
year. II needs to be borne in mind that there
is no collateral benefit derived by any one
from this enormous gambling in the produce
Of the nation. but that, on the contrary, it is
npnsiln lnrublp nf tln irravIl-
larity and depression of prices. so high an
authority as President Z. b. Andrews declares
in his Wealth and Moral Law" that Cam
bling speculation is going through the form
Of purchase and sale without any thought OF
actual goods or actual trade, it is just betting
on the future prices of things. 1t does
not steady prices but is one of the most
potent forces in unsteadying them
L. Porter Alexander in "Railway Practice
says, ''nearlyall the great fortunes OF the pres
ent time are the result of lucky gambling. Wall
Street is its headquarters and millions upon
millions of dollars are accumulated there to
meet the wants OF the players. Railroad
stocks are its favorite cards to bet upon for
their values are liable to constant lluctua-
tlOn-, on account OF weather, crops, new
combinations, wars, strikes, deaths and legis-
laton. They can easily be effected by per-
sona manipuations. The fortunes started
by lucl, afterward grow by the inherent
attractive power of money. But the money
which composcs them is the money won from
the unlucky and not the money, or il very
small part, earned by the railroads for trans
portation. More and more every year are
men, frop all parts OF the country TAX
ing their surplus in trade, in manufactures,
in farming, and in all their multifarious pur-
suits, and bringing them into Wall Street to
bet on railroad cards.
serious indication of the extent to. which
gambling is practiced is to be had in the
amount ofspace given 10 gambling informa-
ton in the daily papers That which makes
the skeleton outline of a race track, base ball.
or foot ball contest of so much interest rs to
pack the street before the bulletin board that
announces it is the amount OF money staked
by the eager throng upon the result The
betting fraternity are not satisfied with bull
letin boards and u whole page in the daily
papers, but they have their own special daily
papers The whole Christian Church with
all its allied reforms has long wanted, but has
not haau nhIa RI hoyp n daily -IIit thh