The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1903-12-28
ALL ARE TO BLAME
REV. NCORKLE MAKES sCATH-
ING REMARKS ON RECENT EVENTS.
LOGIC OF THE SITUATION,
OR SAVANNAH'S LESSON FOR CLOS
ING YEAR, HIS SUBJECT.

Said Gamblers Were Ungrateful
Friends to the Officials Who Per-
mitted Them to Run-In IrOnical
Terms He Pointed Ont Where This
Was True-"These knights of the
Green Cloth Must Needs Forget
the DecOrum Which Is Becoming
to Gentlemen of Their station and
Act Somewhat Like Savages."
Condemns Other Forms of EVIL.
"The Logic of the Situation, or Sa-
vannah's Lesson for the Closing Year"
was the subject of Rev. w. P. McCor-
kles remarks yesterday evening at the
First Presbyterian Church. From the
Scripture he read, Cast him into this
pit that is in the wilderness and lay
no hand upon him" and And now also
the ak is laid unto the root of the
trees"
After some Introductory remarks
bearing on the scriptural text Rev. Mr..
McCorkle said: federation of vice un-
der the laws of our state is and can
be nothing more or less than inten-
tional protection. And now, whatever
logic of recent events has demonstrat-
ed, and the public prints declare in
plain English that heretofore gambling
has been tolerated by the authorities of
Savannah.
I'VE have been told that our city
authorities were powerless; that evil
dence was lacking. Efforts have been
made to entrap ministers into going
before the grand jury to give evidence,
only to be ridiculed, forsooth, because
they knew nothing themselves, and
could only give the names of their in
formants. One minister did some time
ago give to certain members of a grand
jury some information that had come
TO him, and the result was that faith
full work resulted in the finding of a
number of indictments.
within less than six months the
names of a number of those who were
actlVe in that effort to stamp out gam
bling were dropped from the list by
the jury commission. This is a fact
That no explanation will explain away.
And now comes the fearful tragedy
that has frightened our rulers, and
with murders blazoned to the world
in our daily papers the facts can no
longer be blinked.
VIII Break Up Gambling.
Something must be done, and we
are Informed that our Mayor, hereto
fore so amiably helpless, and our chief
of police, heretofore unaware of the
mischief brewing, have determined to
break up the gambling establishments
in Savannah. Our newspapers, so long
silent in their editorial departments,
as to the evils tolerated among US, are
at last justified, in the judgment of
their editors and owners, in crying
aloud. l have thanked God for their
bold utteranceS, but l could not help
wishing that they had spoken with
such boldness before the recent trag-
edy was enacted.
'"The logic of the situation teaches
that certain men are to be put out of
the gambling business for a while,
anyhow not so much for gambling
but because they have abused the con-
fidence of our considerate and confid-
ing authorities. (Here Rev. McCorkle
quoted from an editorial from a local
paper condemning gaming, referring
to it as an indictment against the
gamblers).
Scare was the ink dry on the paper
which carried these decisive words in
to the homes of Savannah, when two
of the wounded men were dead. We
deplore the tragedy; we mourn and
sympathize with the sorrow that has
come into so many hearts, but at the
same time there are some things which
appeal irresistably to our sense of the
ludicrous, and also arouse feelings of
the strongest contempt for the con-
duct which has made such a tragedy
in such a place possible. One is the
grief and perplexity of our kind
hearted officials. Eft tn, Brutus, is
now their cry to their friends, the
gamblers. 1 say their friends.
In Political Organizations.
Friends because they are deemed
eligible for membership in political or
CARNATIONS, and their services are in