The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-08-23
ETHICS OF GAMBLING.
Insurance, According to belly Lewis
Merely n Bet.


From the Philacelphla Times.
The serious illness OF John Chamberlin
and the recent contention as TO whether
stock speculation constituted gambling
IN the fullest sense Of that term, brings 10
mind an episode OF years gone by when
John Morissey was king OF the village Of
Saratoga-w-hich becomes princely habi-
tation curing the late summer-and Cham
berlin was his partner. They had as the
manager Of the club house which they
controlled Col BOlly Lewis, a tai and state
~ looking man. with long, flowing beard,
beaming, soulful eyes the tongue OF a
Demos themes and the manners OF Ches-
terfeId He interested all with whom he
came into contact, and as he was a fire.
quenter of the piaZzas Of the leading no
te,s he met many strangers Who had never
set foot within a gambling room and never
intended to- Many Of these We're shocked
when they learned the business of the
sauve colonel one afternoon ne was the
center Of an adrniring coteTie wac hau been
listening to his mellihuous eloquence for
unite A while. when one of them suddenly
exclaimed. col Lewis 1 am surprised
that YOU are a gambler
why so?" asked Bolly. IN the most
nonchalant manner.
Because" was the reply, your mode
of life is criminal" Bolly pulled on his
cigar for a moment and then said:
II 1 thought fer a moment that my
mode of life was really criminal l would
not continue It another day. You see,
men and times differ as TO what consu-
tutes crime. There are offenses such as
murder. which are crimes per SO and
there are others which are merely crimes
because they are made such by statutory
enactment Now, gambling is an Of
Tense of the latter kind. Let us see, gem
tlemen. whether II differs materially from
business which are considered eminently
proper and respectable, and as such are
followed even by pillars of the church
u will suppose that my friend Jackson
here is an Insurance agent and that l
am building a house. He comes along
and seeing me overlooking matters, says:
Colonel. you are going to have rather a
nice house
{" 1t ought to be- I answer. My ar
chitect estimated that 1t would cost me
$40 600. 1 have spent $4,000 on 1t now,
and it will take five more to finish 1t the
way 1 want IT.
suggests.
{" What viii it cost?' ask.
" Well he responds. say l per cent,
and I'll call your risk $1,000
Now gentlemen, what is the plain En-
glish of this proposition? Nothing more
nor less than this: Jackson is willing TO
bet me 81 900 against Sl20 that my house
won't burn down for a year. But, mark
YOU, he doesn't bet as gambler does. He
makes me put up my part of the stakes,
but all that he gives me is a nicely en-
graved and printed sheet of paper which
saws that If my house is estroyed within
a year the company issuing 1t will pay me
the stake ii bets against me. Now, ad-
hitting that both parties to this bet keep
perfect faith, have to wait whole year
before my bet is decided. Gentlemen, l
haven't got the patience Of Job and thai
is too long to wait for a result
but suppose I am grain dealer on the
board of trade. 1 think wheat is going
to be a great deal higher than it Is a
couple Of months from now. l go to a
broker and buy hundred thousand BUSH
els at a price of or cents above its
current rate. Do buy the grain? Not
much. / merely put up a margin, which
is my bet If wheat falls below the
amount of my margin I lose my bet. If
It does not. but advances get the dir
ference between what 1t was at the time
bought and the price at the time OF set
tlement Now, what is that but gam
bling?
But have to wait a month or two for a
decision. Now, gentlemen, I am an inn
patient man and a very poor waiter. /
take fifty-two cards and shuttle them from
the box one at a time and permit whoever
wishes to bet on the order in which they
will come out. Which ever way he bets /
oppose him dollar for dollar. Gentle
men, we have action one way or the
other in a very few minutes. If lose I
pay Immediately Now If 1 gamble as an
insurance agent or stock or grain jobber
l am all right with society but If l gam
BILE with cards 1 am ostracised. Gentle
men, l think 1t is a distinction without a
difference"
Tol1v THOUGHT djfferentIvr aftaru,ards
for he abandoned gambling of all kinds
and became prosperous hotel proprietor
in Cincinnati.