The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1903-08-06
RUIN FOLLOWS STOCK GAMBLING
AND ALL OTHER FORMS OF
GAMBLING.

'He that maketh haste to be rich shall
not be innocent Proverbs 1921.
These words of Solomon have peculiar
significance. Making haste to be rich is
the sin of this age. 1t has permeated all
portions of our country, reached all classes
of society, and changed wholesome 5usi-
ness activity into feverish speculative
methods. Men are no longer willing to
serve an apprenticeship to trade or to seek
success by the old-fashioned slow methods
of safe and prudent business. Young men
look around them and, seeing that this or
that man, by taking plunge into danger
Gus speculation, has become rich resolve
TO get rich quick by speculation. AT first
they use their own money. II they make
a little they soon believe that they have
peculiar wisdom or luck, and beginning
with small sums they risk more and more
until they feel that if they only had thou
sands and tens of thousands for few
days they could soon be milliona:res. In
moment of temptation, trusting in what
they think is their superior insight or
their great luck, they are tempted to use
the money of their employer or Of the
bank or company in which they are trust
ed officials. Sometimes the wheel turns
their way, they replace the money and
nobody is the wiser But most of them,
though successful in small spcculatlons,
using trust funds are sure to find that the
wheel turns the wrong way. Tie wrong
turn brings them face to face with dishon-
or. with ruin. 81 never intended to be dis
honest" all declare. Few men who spe-
culate with the money Of others intend
to be dishonest They expect their specu
lation to turn out prosperously, but the
result is the same as if they had intended
it so far as the men to whom the money
belongs is concerned. They throw the dice.
They hazard peace of mind, their good
name, the happiness of family and friends
upon lucky throw. What ventures men
do take in the mad rush to. be rich in
hurry. ''He that maketh haste to be
rich shall not be innocent"
There has been gambling in every age of
the world and men have fallen because OF
their love of gaming. But high stakes at
Monte Carlo among the rich, or at shoot
ing craps among the ignorant afford no
peril to be compared with the stock
gambling of this age The youLg
business man, banker. or manu-
facturer whose tastes call for large
incomes, see Pierpont Morgan, Rockefeller,
and others by illegal methods, by pouring
water into stocks, by destroying competi-
ton, by betting against or upon the rise
of a product-he sees such men set in
rich without losing the re-
spect of the people. He sees them IN
their wrong course honored and feted. He
says to himself: "Why shouldn't 1 use my
knowledge to get rich, too? When l get
my pile, l will give to charity and will
do much good There is no sin IN using
the money if / repay it. / will risk it,
lie follows the example of the giant
gamblers, who have gotten rich by devi-
Gus methods, he loses on his venture. and
thea realizes that che that maketh haste
to be rich shall not be innocent" And the
sorrow of it is that there is no recalling
the act. 1t has been done. he is law
breaker, and stands in peril of the penalty.
Rich aw-breakers must keep within the
limits Of the law. They may starve
widows, rob producers, crush competition,
but they must do it with money that is
legally their own. In the stock gambling
world the only ethics that prevail and
the only law that is memorable is "You
must gamble with only your own money.
II you use the money of others and set
caught, you shall be thrown into outer
darkness
One man in Raleigh said yesterday that
ten million dollars was small estimate
of the money that North Carolina people
have lost in stock gambling during the past
year. Another said it was double that
sum. The truth is that nobody knows.
81 am sure that the State as whole
has lost as much as it made on last years
splendid crop" said well-informed gen
tleman. Whatever the sum may be. one
thing is sure, it has been very consider
able, and has done the business interests
of the State more damage than is appar-
emit. Many men have not lost all, and
have been able to raise enough money to
prevent bankruptcy or ruin. But In al
most every town bankers know tales of
losses that have staggered some of the
solidest business men whose savings of n
life time have been swept away in