The leader., 1905-05-24


".
| heard a lawyer make a speech
in one Of my courts in which be
was defending a man for running
a gambling house and he went on
to demonstrate why he thought it
was all a persecution of his client.
| have heard Of a good deal Of
gambling in three towns in my
district, viz: Magnolia, Brook
haven and Summit. | hope there
is no gambling house in this
town. 1t is your business to
break it up if there is. You,
gentlemen, have no use for a gam
bier. He is no good to the com
mUnity, no good to his family and
no goud to the people he lives
among. He is a knot on nature
and a scab on humanity that's
what your professional gambler
is, You country people who
makeean honest living have not
got time to gamble and you don't
want any gamblers around. You
town people who make an honest
living don't want any gambler,
because you haven't time to gam
BILE. If you want to keep an ac-
count of the gambling done by the
leading people, read the society
notes of the Sunday newspapers.
All these soiIees and whist clubs
and euchre parties that's all
gambling, just as much as when
two negroes get down on the
ground and shoot craps. 1t is
Just as much gambling as shooting
craps. BUT let us begin on the
men of Brookhaven, instead Of
the ladies'; for if we can stop
them the ladies Will quit all right.
The men are responsible for all
these euchre parties, etc., that are
going on all over the country.
When men invite others to their
house and play a game of cards
for money, no matter how small
the amount, it is gambling and a
violation Of the law. If you were
to get up a bet on a race and put
up your money and run your
mustang ponies, the grand jury
would find an Indictment against
you. Well, then, if we country
people can't run races and bet on
our mustang ponies, let's not let
these people in town have their
little euchre parties with their lit
tie silver shaving mug prizes
What the law is for is to correct
the faults and punish the crimes
of a community and the law of
the State tries to make its citizens
better and their lives better and
purer. You can't enforce Chris
tianity by law and you can't make
a Christian of any man by law;
but / want to say to you that
there is not a man in Lincoln
county that would live in amy
community where they did not
have a church or where they did
not have some form of religion.
You may have some fellow here
who is foolish enough to scoff at
the church and at the preacher,
but who would undertake to live
where there is no church, or an
dertake to raise a family outside
its influence. You can't have a
community that's worth living in
without a church. We can't by a
jury indict people for being ire
ligious; we can't make people re-
ligious; but we can make them
respect the religious rights Of 9th
er people.
You want to break up. this
harmful gambling2 Well, the
remedy is TO indict the people
who engage in it and try them by
the grand iuries and the petit iu
ries. You are the men who can
doit. Why, just think about this
social gambling the harm it does
our young people. Why, there
was a young man in my town who
did not touch a drink of whisky
and did not know one card from
another. When he was eighteen
or nineteen years old he was sent
as student to The University at
Oxford. and he came back home a
professional gambler, and it all
Started with q social game Of cards
at Oxford. And this is only one
instance. You ought 10 investi-