The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-01-30

SOCIETY Is GROWING INDIFFERENT
10 THE GAMING EVILS.
In Public as Well as in Private-The
Lease of Monte Carlo Again Re-

That popular sentiment in Europe rs be-
| coming extraordinarily Indifferent to the
evils of public and private gambling is
apparent not only from the fact that steps
are being taken to establish casinos SIM
liar TO that of Monte Carlo in the imme
date neighborhood of Lisbon, at Bel
grade, al Delagoa Bay and in the Pyrene-
an Republic Of Andore, but from the re-
| cent development of the numerous more
| or less public gambling institutions at
Ostend Numur, Spa and elsewhere in Bel
GUM. 1t is also evident from the an
nouncement that the Prince of Monaco
/ has just consented to the renewal of the
lease of his principality to the Monte Car
10 Casino Company for another term of
fifty years, in condition of additional pay
ments and subsidies by the company, to
the tune og 100000 year over and above
what it has been giving until now. More
over, the news of the prolongation of the
concession on these exorbitant terms,
which speaks volumes for the profits de-
rived from the tables by the owners of
the casino, has aroused no protest or
even unfavorable comment on the part
of the European press, which ten or fif-
tenn years ago literally teemed with abuse
of the Prince of Monaco and of the Monte
Carlo establishment, the latter being de-
nounced as the moral plague spot of the
old world Even more noteworthy are
the growing indifference and indulgence
on the part of European society to those
who have permitted their names to be-
come more or less involved in more or
less unsavory gambling scandals. Pay
ment of the so-caled debts of honor
that is to say, of losses incurred in gam
bling-is no longer considered as a "sine
qua non,'' and to be caught playing I'M
fairly at cards has ceased TO be viewed
as a crime so irreparable and disgrace
so terrible that death should be preferred,
as was the case formerly
Indeed, without mentioning any names,
1t may be sufficient to point out that there
are two Englishmen of family, each of
them the son-in-law of British Duke who
are once more figuring in the London great
world, tolerated as members of clubs, and
both welcoming society and being well
coined by it, who just two score years ago
were caught cheating at cards, the one at
the Turf Club in London, the other at the
Cercle de la Mediterrane at Nice, whence
they We're elected with kicks by the club
domestics. Moreover although the Scotch
baronet who was involved in the baccarat
scandal some five or six years ago has
never until now succeeded in clearing HIM
self of the charge of unfair play which
was brought against him by his future
King and by others, and which compelled
him to sever his connection with the army
and with his club, yet he is to-day once
more back in the swim of society, his name
being found among the lists of the smart
est house parties north of the River Tweed.
In one word, public conscience in Eu-
rope has become seriously blunted with
regard to gambling, both fair and unfair,
and it is to be feared that the mania which
society," and especially women, have deVel-
oped of late years for indulging in a fling
on the Stock Exchange, has contributed
| in no small way to bring about this re-
| grettable condition of affairs Formerly
there was distinction between what were
| known as commercial liabilities and debts
| of honor. The payment of the former was
regarded,not merely as the reverse of obll-
| eatory, but even as foolish, whereas even
! delay meant social death where debts of
| honor were concerned. With the advent of
society, and especially of the feminine por-
| ton thereof, on Change" the code of
| ethics has undergone amendment, and the
| line between commercial debts and debts
| of honor has disappeared. If it is permissi-
| bic to gamble in stocks on parole without
| means of paying ones differences, it is
| equally allowable to gamble at cards with
| the intention of raking in ones winnings,
! but with the assurance of being unable to
| pay ones losses. If honor is left intact in
| the one instance, it is argued that it can
not suffer in the other, and thus it has
! come to pass that play like horse racing
| is becoming more of a business transac-
| ton of a doubtful character than the sport
| of gentlemen, and that people fond of that
| particular form of excitement prefer plaV
| in public gambling establishments such
as the Casinos of Monte Carlo, Ostend.
| Spa, AiXles-B ains, etc, feeling assured
! that there, at any rate, none Of their fell
| low-players can take undue advantage of
their confidence. That may serve to ex-
| plain the increasing vogue of the public
| gambling hells of the old world
! Between the years 1870 and 1890 the
| newspapers of Europe were filled with
accounts of the active efforts of an influ-
| entail society formed for the purpose of
| suppressing the Casino at Monte Carlo. 1t
! bore the impressive title of the "Societe
! Internationale pour 10 Suppression des
| JeuX a Monte Carlo" and was lavishIv
| supported by a large number of wealthy
| philanthrophists and nouveaux riches POS
| sessed of social aspirations, who saw
therein a means of achieving notorlety.
and, above ALL of forcing themselves into
! the presence of royal personages and great
| statesmen. Delegations of this society
| were received in turn by welnigh very
| pOtentate IN EUROPE, from the Pope to
| King Oscar of Sweden and from the King
| of Portugal to the Emperor of Russia
With one exception, they all gave their
| cordial Endorsement to the object which
the society had in view, and proclaimed
| themselves as strongly in favor of the
suppression of the public gambling tables
in the princpality of Monaco. The soli-
| tary exception was Leopold of Belgium
who, when asked by the delegation to be-
! come patron of the society, replied with
a twinkle in his eye that he would be glad
to do so if the society would first obtain
! the signature and patronage of his good
| cousin, the Prince of Wales. That settled
| the matter so far as he was concerned,
for the heir apparent to the English
throne, whatever his ''petits vices" as the
| French call them-and they are mostly of
a generous, genial nature-is strongly
averse to hypocrisy and humbug He is
fond of a quiet gamble, and makes no
| concealment of the fact, and would be the
| last person on earth to lend his name 40
any agitation organized for the purpose of
suppressing gambling institutions where
the play is perfectly straight and square
| BY degrees the agitation died out. Its
promoters had facilitated their private
ends, namely. Introduction TO royalty, no.
toriety, and, in some cases, the concession