Condon globe. (Condon, Gilliam Co., Or.) 189?-1919, 1905-08-31
|L57fIs POPULAR
kAhy\ PULPIT

and, for the best of reasons. they have
never been sufficiently clear There
are many men In high places to-day
who are afraid of dealing with this
subject, and for the best OF reasons,
| find that In the middle OF the elgh.
teenth century-more than t50 years
ago-~a very remarkable Act OF Par.
lament was passed, which was sub.
sequently repealed. And Il provided
that any ono convicted OF losing clio
at one time as result OF betting or
gaming. or OF losing Gao within the
space OF twenty.four hours, must. upon
conviction, of course. pay ave times
that amount FOR the benefit of the poor
Of the parish. The gambling habit,
which Is 50 far~reaching, and which
sends Its feclers out with such raml,
tleatlons, Is working terrible havoc to
day. 1t il one of our greatest aud
most threatening national curses, And,
thank God, the Christian Church In ut
length waking up to Its responsibilities
In the matter,
Let mo give you II few facts. There
are at least 10000 bookmakers In
England to-day: 20.00Ol and not man
OF them plying nm honest trade Their
turnover has been estimated TO be
t5o,ooo,OO0 sterling by the year. by un-
rcmuneratlve trade; all, in so far as
the Commonwealth IL concerned
wasteful aud Injurious, Only last No.
vember bookmaker was fined ti00
at Relgate. The police, when they
carried away his book from the place
where he carried on his business"
found by referring to his bank book.
that during the previous twelve months
he had paid fi2,OO0 into his banking
account His books showed profit
OF fi,76i on the average during the
last seven years; aud he had. at the
time he was brought before the mag
lstrates one client who owned him
tG,OO0. That was In November. Last
August young man, who was mes
senger at newspaper office, was fined
by the magistrates for Systematically
carrying on betting with boys. And
this Is one Of the worst phases of this
evil; IL Is attacking our children, and
to far greater extent than you aud l..
In our SNUG responsibility, could think
possible. And II was found that this
gentleman In one of his books had
l,4Si entries covering a space of only
ten days; and those betting transac-
tlons extended In amount from Id to
IS. Cd.
ask you what must be the attitude
OF all Christians, nay, all thoughtful
men and women towards this great
evil? 1t has degraded our sport, 1t
Is spelling our national games, II Is de
teriorati ting our national character, Il
IA destroying our position as u nation
amongst the other nations of the
world, II is spelling our national exam.
pie. We as Christians and good cltl-
zens, as patriots. must do what In us
lies to discourage this evil habit,
Christian men, and women. too. have
special obligation. | have been fight.
Ing for years past, whenever | have
/ had the opportunity, against all forms
OF lotteries and rafiies In connection
with bazaars. There was one railing
transaction recorded in the New Tes-
lament. You know what II was when
the soldiers at the foot OF the cross
cast lots for the dying Christ That
Is not very laudable precedent for
us to follow In any institution, bazaar
or whatever It may be, when we are
trying to get money for what we cal
Christian purpose. See TO 1t thai
you always refuse to play for money
at any simple game, however small
the odds.