The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1905-02-17
FASCINATING VICE.
Prom ths midland Methodist. ]

intelligent person. He must be dull
and unohservlng fellow w.o does not
see the gambling danger at large IN
the land. The fact that municipal
governments and State Legislators a'e
trying to lasso the evil is proof 81 f.
ficient that great harm is being done.
Boys begin the fascinating vice by
playing mar les "for keeps. Social
circles put up cut lass bo., Is as prizes
in games of cards The prizes are
served as salt and pepper and mustard
to meats, as sugar to strawberries, as
sauce to padding A ball game With
out ginger" is like game of calds
without IA st Ike. The appetite once
whetted, there Is no telling when the
gorging will end. Skill being acquil ed
in winning. there is eagerness to ex-
tend the march of victory. Squeamlsh-
ness of conscience having been quoted,
other directors are looked upon as cid
fogies. That is an unanswerable argu-
m ent
Race track gambling has Its peculiar
fascination and its straw covered pit
falls. Clerks IN stores put up" some
thing on their own Judgment and on
somebody's horse. Not infrequently
women join the gambling rush and
sta Ike their earnings and their jewelry
OIL race. A certain lady in a South
ern city commenced this sort of sport,
and went on until even the silverwaIe
of her table was lost. Her husband,
who knew not that his wife had come
down to common gambling, notified
her that he would have certain friends
home with him to dinner on certain
day. She was alarmed lest the loss of
the SILVER be discovered, and, not hav-
ing anything else to sell, promptly
sold herself. 1t is horrible story, but
true and of recent occurrence.
We see In the secular papers state
ment to the effect that the hest citi-
zens" of certain Tennessee town were
protesting against legislative enact
ment aimed at race track gambling on
the score that it would discourage
stock-raising. For one, this scrite
does not believe that the best citizens
ever took any such position. Some
anxious correspondent has evidently
put petition into somebody s mouth.
Best citizens are not in favor of race
traces, much less the gambling accom-
paniment. And certainly sensible
men will not argue that gambling is
necessary to stock raising. That IS
a preposteI Gus plea.
Let the Legislature legislate against
this evil that is corrupting clerks,
concentrating women, demoralizing
business and debauchlnR manhood.
1t is true that morals cannot be man
ufactured by law, but it 10 also true that
vice ought not to be encouraged by law
Liberty ie not license. Law should fos
ter industry and enterprise, but not
gambling and drunkenness. Powder
and dynamite houses should be shut
out of city limits; much more should the
gambling dens and gambling be shut
out OF the walks of men. II it we're true
that law against race track gambling
would discourage stock raising, then the
law should still be passed, seeing that
the rearing of men is of more moment
than the raising of horses. Some one
will avow that the State is not in the
business Of rearing men. Much less.
then, is it in the business of raising pelt-
ers, plugs, and thoroughbreds, The
cry of this age is for men. If the law
can close any death trap, it ought to do
so
The gambling mania is like microbes
in the blood, like fever in the system,
ike the grip of the morphine nabit.
Boys become victims; women become
victims; business men become Victims;
mechanics become victims. 1t leads to
dissolute habits, to bad company, tn re-
peated borrowing of money, to risking
of other peoples money, to dishonesty.
to deceit, untruthfulness. crime. dis
honor, and death. The pull it should
thunder against 1t; the press should
proclaim against it; society should
frown upon even the lnitlatory steps
which lead to 1t. Law should cripple
it as much as possible. The Issue is
not one of piety, but of preservation.