Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1905-12-11
DR.. w. M. Paden breaches Strong
Discourse on Evils OF
Gambling.
LURID TALES OF SALT LAKE.
"Crlme and Its Source" Spoken Upon
by DR.. llelmck--Othcr sun
day sermons.

ttTOnB DISCOURSE on HdInbllus last
evening, in which he spoke from the
text.
'Ye that forsake the Lord, that pre-
pare table for Fortune. and that NIL
up mingled wine unto Destiny | will
destroy."--ls. 65.ll (ReyIsed Yersion.)
Certain outlaws Of ancient Jewry be-
cause they forsook Jehovah, prepared
q table for Luck and filled up mingled
wine to Fortune, are here warned Of
their doom. Whatever else the text
may mean, II means that The Supreme
Ruler Of the universe reseuts an hon
ors given To Luck, Fate or Fortune.
such gods are made Of nothing Their
worship is fostered by ignorance. Their
service is a mixture Of idolaty and
superstition. and It's issues are inn
moral. irrciigiOus and inhuman.
And yet Fortuna. the bubble Goddess
OF Chance. sun hoOdwinks innumer-
able yolarles Her arars stlIl smoke
with insensate sacrifice Her greed Is
Unsuitable. Merchandise Of gold and
silver and precious stones; wheat und
cattle and sheep and bodies ana souls
OF men~-she and her inhuman priest
hood reach for them all AS devoid OF
good faith as IL Chance, she Is IN the
end more cruel than the grave.
Notice the ideal cult OF this bubble
goddess-the gambler Is her priest the
gambling table IS her altar. gambling
il her worship and the gambler is her
yotary, slave and victim. Let me he
definite. by gambling | mean playing
games OF chance for money. The
IA lar la 4 he ~ inf "A M q
his living out OF the game The gam
bling house IL the baited trap and the
gambler is the man who plays the fool
with the bait. The lazy, lying, cruel.
coyetous bubble goddess OF Luck
works them all.
Gambling debts cannot be collected
by law. Of course not they are not
contracted according TO law. but in
violation Of It. When a man has, by
chance. an We say. gotten hold of an
other mans money and keeps II, he Is
dishonest He has no moral or legal
right to il. He has given his neighbor
no moral or legal equivalent OF
course, he may say. MY neighbor
might by chance. have gotten hold OF
my money and kept it, But that
doesn't change the ethical or legal
status Of the action. Two opportuni-
ties TO do wrong do not release an hon
est man from his one opportunity TO
do right. At It's very best the ethical
code of the gambler is war to the
knife. His bubble god of chance or
fate has no heart and recognizes no
moral responsibilities or relations. To
serve this cruel chimera Is IA effect to
repudiate the fatherhood Of God and
the brotherhood of man.
Gambling is not merely an attempt
20 get something for nothing. but to get
Il at the expense Of another The gam
bier must gain by his brothers loss,
He must rejoice over his brothers sor-
row He'll has been defined as SELFISH
ness on fire. So is gambling hell 1t
finds a mans weak spot and breaka
him without mercy. Ii nurses his reck-
less infatuatlon till 1t gets all he has,
and then II throws him into the street.
AN are admitted who have money, but
when the gambler Is looted the gam
bier has neither use nor pity for him
The gambling spirit is as loYeless as the
idol, Fate, which presdes over its
drugged wine and heartless tables.
THE gambler is the foe of society.
His tools, like those of the burglar
may be seized and destroyed. Like GER
standing as personal property, Society
may seize and burn them as II would
seize and burn the infectious rags Of a
pesthouse. The gambling den has no
more right to protection than the den
OF a beast of prey or a nest of scor-
pions. II ranks with the opium joint
and the house Of prostitution Nor has
q citizen any more moral right TO pat
ronize the gamblers den than the gam
bier has 10 keep IL open. Such gaming
is vicious. Even from business stand
point, as one has suggested, IL Is not
simply question Of whether a man can
afford TO lose at the faro table but
whether the community can afford to
let him make or lose money In that
way. The experience OF generations has
led the conscience and the business
judgment OF the more civilized nations
10 say. no! II has been found that an
habltual gamestcr can no more be trust
ed 10 handle other mems money than
"A drunkard TO run a passenger train,
The one Will risk entrusted freight for
"A drink. the other will risk trust funds
for "A game.
But may not a man do what he
pleases with his money? II he pleases
To- be a decent law-abidlng and honest
member Of society he may But II he
sets out to invest his money in faro
stables. burglar tools or dynamite
bombs he ought Go be hindered. Now
as q matter OF fact. man has nc
moral right 10 risk the money he owe
HIS grocer or doctor, not TO speak OF
his wife and children, on the gambling
table. He has no moral right L
risk making himself a burden aud s
shame TO his friends or the community
in which he lives; especially when h'
Is by such gaining furnishing fuel FOL
the fires Of that public nuiancethe gam
bling hell 4 man has no more mora
right 10 feed the fires OF those selhsl
hells than the gambler has to kindl'
them. I have not. and do not care 10
dwell on the evil tendencies of gam
bling. These are acknowledged. In
deed, IL IS on such grounds, rather thar
on the ground Of essential immortality
that gambling has been outlawed. b.
profession he administers Grazing drop
10 idleness. insults and preys upon In
Dor. gets public opinion nj defiance
violates statutory law and general!
lives the LIE Of an outlaw"
PROBLEMS OF CENTURY.
Rev. D. A. Brown Of the First Bap.
list church spoke on Problems Of III,
Twentieth Century" yesterday, wher
ne said:
In the turning down OF the bosses
al the recent elections ne saw the mos
hopeful sign for the city's future. w,
think we elect executives 10 control oui
cities. but such is not the case, thes,
men are ruled by the boss who control:
their respective party They buy votes
barter votes, they deceive to get votes
II is with little molestaton that IN,
gambling houses run, because their pro,
prietors are The real power behind IN,
mayor.
II is little weight that your appea
and mine has with legitimate officers
for they are In the hands OF the bossei
and 1t means a death, a funeral and
tombstone 10 oppose them. To such a,
array Of executives there Is no sucl
thing as cleaning out the places Of VIC
that threaten the manhood and woman
hood of our cities, all they need do is T.