Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1898-04-14

out The text is.
Aceldama that is 10 say, the field OF blood --
Acts l., 49,
The money that Judas gave for sur
rendering Christ was used to purchase
. graveyard, As the money was blood
mo ney, the ground bought by IL was
called in the Syriac tongue, "Accl-
DANA" meaning "'rhe field of blood ="
Well, there Is one word | want to write
to-day over every racc-co urse where
wagers are stalsed, and every pool
room, and every gambling saloon, and
every table, public or private, where
men and women bet for sums Of money,
large or small, and that is II word in
carnadined with the life OF innumer-
able victims Aceldama.
The gambling spirit, which is ut all
times IA stupendous evil, ever and anon
sweeps over the country like an cpl
donnie, Frustrating uncounted thou
sands. There has never been worse
attack than that from which all the
villages, towns and cities are now suf-
fering.
While among my hearers and read
ers are those who have passed on into
the afternoon OF life, and the shadows
are lcngthening, and the sky crimSons
with the glow of the setting sun, II
large number OF them are in early life,
and the morning is coming down out
Of the clear sky upon them, and the
bright air Is redolent with spring bios
SONS, and the stream of life, cleaning
and glancing, rushcs on between How
cry banks, MAILING music ns 1t goes,
Some of you are engaged In mercantile
concerns, as clcrlts and bpokkcpers
and your whole life Is to be- passed In
the exciting world of traffic The
sound of busy life stirs you M the
drum stirs the tiefy war horse. 9th
ors are In che mechanical arts, to hum"
mer and chishel your way through life,
and success awaits you Some are pre-
pairing for professional life, and grand
opportunities arr before you; nay,
some of you already have bucltled on
the armor But, whatever your age
and calling, the subject OF gambling,
about which speak to-day, il perth
nent
Some years ago, when nm association
for the suppression OF gambling was
organized, an agent Of tho association
came to II prominent citizen and asked
him to patroniHo the society. He said:
mo, | can have no interest in such IN
organization. nm In no wise affected
by the evil At that very time his
son, who was his partner in business,
was one Of the heaviest players in
famous gambling establishment. An
other refused his patronage on the
same ground, not knowing that his
first boultkeeper, though receiving II
salary of only $1,000, was losing from
$50 to 800 per night The president of
u railroad company refused to pntron-
Ice the institution, saying: "That So
citty is good for the defense of mer-
chants, but we railroad people are not
injured by this rvil;" not knowing that
Mt that very time two of his conductors
were spending three nights Of each
week ut faro tables in New York hi.
rectly or indirectly this evil strikes ut
the whole world
Gambling Is the rislting Of something
more or less valuable in tho hope of
winning more than You hazard The
instruments of gaming may differ, but
the principle is the same. The shut
fling and dealing cards, however full
of temptation, is not gambling unless
stakes are put up; while, on tho other
hand, gambling may be carried ON
without cards, or dice, or billiards, or
tcn-pin alley. The man who bets on
horses, or elections, ON battles, the
man who deals in fancy" stocks, or
conducts business which hazards
extra capital, or goes into transactions
without foundation, but dependent
upon what mon call "lucll, is u gam
bier.
Whatever you expect to get from
your neighbour without Offering nm
equivalent IN money, or time, or Skill,
is either the product of theft or gam
ing. Lottery tickets and lottery poll
cies come into tho same category.
Baznars for the founding of hospitals,
schools and churches. conducted on the
railing system, come under the same
denomination. DO not, therefore, MS.
soclate gambling necessarily with any
Instrument, or game, or time OF place
on think the principle depends upon
whether you play for II glass of wine
or 100 shores of national stock. Whether
you patroni1e auction pools, ""Frencl
mutuals,' or "boolImulliug, whether
you employ faro or billiards, rondo and
keno, cards or hagatclle, the very idvJ
Of the thing is dishonest; for 1t pro
fessrs to hestow upon YOU II good foi
which You give no equivalents
This crime is no new born sprite, but
! haggard transgresston that comes
staggering down under Il mantle o.
curses through many centuries Al
nations, bnrhArous and civilized, hav,
been addicted To it,
But now the laws of the whole civil
lied world denounce the system
Enactnents have been pass ID, but only
partially enforced, and nj times not en-
forced ut all The men Interested ii
gamias hoa,as, and III jockey clubs
WELD such influence by their ulmbrri
and ailluenee, that the Judge, the jury
and the police officer must he bold in