Cameron County press. [volume] (Emporium, Cameron County, Pa.) 1866-1922, 1905-06-22
The ObSerwer-

The Observer.
A few days ago the new Director of
fubllc Safety in Philadelphia put
| sGop 10 q scheme which one of the
/ churches in the city had well under
way to raise funds by CHANGING off
dwelling. Public sentiment. as re-
| flected in communications to The pub
| llc prints, is divided on the question AZ
whether this action was called for: but
| the weight of opinion seems to uphold
! the Director in his course. The Obser
yer Is decidedly of the opinion that the
director did the right thing, and he
ventures to think that the attention
tnat Is now being centered upon an
Objectionable practice, will result in
putting a final end to it.
Ihe Director is right in declaring
that the selling ofchances for the bene-
lit OF church is plain lottery, and is
quite as much under the ban of the
law as is any other form Of lottery.
from moral point of view church
lottery is worse than other lotteries.
inasmuch as a church is expected to
stand for the highest standards Of
morality. AS rule the highest moral
sentiments of a people are in advance
OF legislation, and it therefore puts a
church in an unfavOrable moral light
when, instead of standing for princi-
pies which are in advance of legisa-
tion, 1t Iags behind legislation and in
dulges in practices which are a viola
ton of law.
a century or two ago lottery was
looked upon by the highest mora,ists
as an honorable and perfectly legiti-
mate method of raising funds. Col
Ieges were endowed and churches
maintained by funds raised in this
manner In independence Hall may
be cen a lottery ticket issued in the
early half ofthQ eighteenth century by
the vestry of old Christ Church for
the benefit of that venerable parish.
Those who believe that the world is
not getting any better find it difficult
to explain how it has come to pass
that the moral standards Of civilized
people have improved so much within
a century or two Two centuries ago
or less it was considered no disgrace
for even pillar of the church to lie
in drunken stupor under the table.
Gambling and lotteries were not only
tolerated, but approved War excited
not one tenth the horror that it does
to-day The moral standards of civil
ized~peo t,.ss,aro- being Heightened. and
in this we see cheering and conclusive
evidence that the world is getting
better.
A lottery appeals to one Of the low
est as we'll as one of the strongest in
stincts of human nature, the desire to
get something for nothing. A lottery
is a gambling scheme pure and simple,
and as such it is worse than betting.
Betting may, and often does, degener-
ate into gambling, but betting proper
has this to be said for it, that it is a
primitive expression and proof of
ones confidence in his own judgment
and veracity. The instinct to wager.
says Sir Henry Maine in his great
work, "Ancient Law" is one of the
Oldest and most deeply seated in
human nature. The wager, like the
oath, still fulfills serious and useful
function i'll human affairs. One who
goes bail or bond for another is really
stalking the amount of the forfeit upon
the soundness, OF his own Judgment
that the prisoner will appear when
called for trial, or that the contract
will be fulfilled as specified But the
wager, like the oath, may be used in
profane and vulgar way. The man
who cannot argue without Offering to
back up his contention with a stake OF
money is near of kin to the man whe
thinks to add strength to his state.
ments by backing them up with aoths.
Profane betting, like profane swear.
ing, is odious and disgusting.
But gambling-and church lottery
is gambling-has not even the sem
blance of justification that attaches to
betting. The bettor, as distinct from
the gambler, feels sure of something,
so sure that he is willing to stake
money upon it, The gambler as
such is sure OF nothing; he stakes
his money upon mere chance. If his
venture represented knowledge, intel
ligence, or sound Judgment, something.
might be said for it; but it Representa-
none of these,
A church would better stick to its
proper function, which is to help men
to govern their lives according to
divine reason and principle, and not
encourage habit of mind, already too
common among men of sCeptical and
cynical tendency, that sees i'll the
events and affairs of life nothing but
the rule of chance and fate.