The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1901-07-02

we could find any n able enough at
figures to tabulate them. 1t Is all the
same spirit Of gambling, whether the in
struments are cards or the clicking chips
or the turning whee or the bid Of the
Stock Exchange, where people sell what
they never owned and fail because they
cannot get paid for ii. A PROMINENT
banker tells me that he thinks 10000 peo-
ple were financially Frustrated by the re-
cent insanities in Wall street. Here and
there a case is reported, but the vast ma
FORTY suffer in silence. The children are
brought home from school, the WARDROBE
will be denied replenishment, the table
will nave scant supply, wild generosity
will be turned into grim want. Forty
years from now will be felt the disaster
Of last months black Thursday.
Can you hear the story Of the unprin-
cipled ~manipulators Of stocks and of the
devices of the gambling saloon to entrapt
the verdant and unsuspicious without
having your pulses tingle, and your heartI
thump, and your entire nature shocked
with the villainy? II so, you are not much
Of a man or much Of a woman. You
ought to. be angry, for there is no sin in
such vehement dislike. You ought to bel
so angry that you could not repress your
1eplu&S III III plcSSnCc VI sOuuS ulGu1
who are just forming their life theories.
In every possible way you ought to del
nounc such s~tupendous robbery. Let it
be known that the only successful game
in which a man plays for money is the
one in which he loses all and stops.
But while you are holly indignant
against the crime, how do you feel about
those who were feeced and slain? They
did not know that their small boat was
SO near the maelstrom. Some Of them
were born with a tendency to recklessnessI
and experiment and hazard. They inher1
tied a disposition to tempt chance. Dol
not heap on them additional discouraged
ments; do not deride their losses. Help
them to start again. Show them that
there are more fortunes yet to be gained
than have yet been gathered and that
with God for their friend they will bel
provided for here and through the Sal
viour's mercy they may reign forever inl
the land where there are no losses and in
finite gains. While you may redden in the
face at the fact that gambling is the dis
graceful mother of m~ultitudinous crimes,
Of envies, jealousies, revenges, Quarrels,
cruelties, ~falsehoods, forgeries, suicides,
murders and despair, be careful what you
say of the victim Of the vice and what
you do. He needs more sympathy than
the man who came up from inebriety and
debauch and assassination, for many
such repent and are saved, but confirmed
gamblers hardly ever reform.
During the course of a prolonged minis
try / nave seen thousands redeemed,
many of them who were clear gone I'M
sin, by Almighty grace rescued. In all
parts of this land and in some parts
of other and I have seen those who
were given up as incorrigible and lost
recovered for God and heaven, but how
many confirmed gamblers have I seen
converted from their evil ways? A thou
sand? No. Five hundred? No. Fifty ?
No. Two? No. One? No. I read in a
book of one such rescued. 1 have no
doubt there have been other cases, but
no evil does its work SO thoroughly and
hopeless of reformation ought to call
forth from you deeper sympathy than you
feel for any other unfortunate. Pity by
all means, for those who, shipwrecked
and bruised among the timbers. have new.
ertheless climbed up to the fsherman's
cabin and found warmth and shelter, but
more pity for those who never reach
shore. but are dashed to death in the
breakers. Be angry at the sin. but sym
pathiZe with its victims.
Indignation Over Fraud.
There is another sin that we are often
lines called to be angry with, and that
is fraud. We ali like honesty. and whep
1t Is sacrificed we are vehement in de
nunciation. We hope that the detectives
will soon come upon the track of the
absconding bank official. of the burglar
ushn h1nu, t,n III, g., r.. 20 IL u
skillfully changed 'he figures in the ac
count book. of the ~falsifer who secure1
thu loan on valuelpss property. of the
agent who because of his percentage
Wrongfully admits a man to the benefit,
of a life insurance policy when his heart
is ready to stop and who comes from an
ancestry Enthusiastically short lived.
One act of fraud told of in big headlines
il ;he morning papers ri%ghtfully arouses
the nations wrath. 1t is the interest of
every good man and good woman who
reads Of the crime to have it exposed and
punished. Let it 60 unscathed. and you
put a premium on fraud. you depress pub
lie morals, you induce those who are on
the fence between right and wrong to get
down on the wrong side, and you put the
business Of the world on a down grade.
The constabulary and penitentiary must
do their work. But while the merciless
and the goddess cry: GOOD for him. /
am glad he is within the prison doors"
be it your work to find out il that man is
worth saving and what were the causes
of his moral overthrow. Perhaps he
started in business life under a tricky
firm, who gave him wrong notions of
business integrity; perhaps there was a
combination OF circumstances almost un.
paralleled for temptation; perhaps there
were alterations: perhaps he was born
wrong and never got over it; perhaps he
did not realize what he was doing. and If
you are a merciful man you will think of
other ~perhapses which, though they may
not excuse, will %extenuate. Perhaps hs
has already repented and is washed in the
blood Of the Lamb and is as sure of
heaven as you are. What an opportunity
you have now for obeying my text. You
were angry at the misdemeanor, but you
are hopeful for the recovery Of the re-
calcitrant. Blessed all prison reformers.
| PlocSod or fhoeo 0ovorpnra and proSi.