The Newtown bee., 1906-03-16
CIRCULATION !:
Ten Pages.
New MilfOrd.-

New Milford,
 SERMON ON GAMBLING.
 St Johns church was crowded, Sur lay night, by an audience to hear Rev | Dr. Hares sermon on "Gambling." He chose for his text, "Thou shalt lot ctvet any thing that is thy neigh oors." Among other things he said:
 MT Le ckey in his map of life says: Drunkenness. sensuality, gambling, 1abitual extravagance and self-indul- l yence, If they become the pleasures of ,outh will almost infallibly lead.to the | 'uin of a life." Many thoughtful mer !, lot given to exaggeration, would take cave to revise the philosophers state nent and would say that it does no, ;ake this array of vices, but that a1y )ne of them is potent and pernicious enough to degrade and destroy the 'airest and most promising life. Every of this vile crew must be ,lapped into irons and kept under matches or the ship will soon be on the rocks. Can drunkenness bring ruin: It seems grim jest to ask the ques- tion. Every year strong drink stays It's tens of thousands. Can sensuality ruin? That loathsome thing that be- smircEes love, dishonors the family and animalizes man, degrades woman, outrages childhood, undermines soci- ety, enervates the state, destroys all who do not destroy it. To ask the question is to answer 1t. Can habitual and self-indulgence ruin a life? The reckless spendthrift who has come to rags and poverty, the young fellow who has sacrificed hones- ty to vaLity and silly display and now mourns his folly as a fellow behind prison bars, the miserable, hollow-eyed creature who shuffles along the pave. ment, and the foul-tongued leering fellow who hangs about the saloon are convincing and appalling answer to the question:.
 CAN GAMBLING RUIN MAN, WOMAN,
 YOUTH?
 From a thousand quarters and from 10000 lips comes back the mournful answer, "Yes." Bishop Westcott says: "The experience of those most compe. tent to speak tells us that the effects of gambling are far more disastrous than the effects of drunkenness" l do not know as | can endorse that statement in it's entirety. But it shows the impression made on the mind ot one who vas by temperament and hab- it scholar and recluse rather than a social reformer. Indeed, it was the growing power of these social iniqui- ties that brought the Bishop from his books to fight the foe. Let us define gambling If we can. Then consider it's appalling influence and ravages, next get to the root and essence of the act, and finally note the one remedy for this cancerous growth in human na- ture and society.
 WHAT IS GAMBLING?
 What is betting? A bet is a wager, according to one definition, a game ot hazard, the stalking or pledging of some object of value on the issue of some game, contest or event. Gam bling is generally understood to mean the habit or constant practice of bet ting. An English writer says: "Gam- bling is the risking of larger sums than one can afford on ventures over which his own industry exercises little or no control" This definition is viti- ated by the mischievous clause, more than he can afford. Who can say when that limit is reached. The gambler will say he can afford the deadly pas time while he has shilling in his pocket. This writer thinks gambling wrong if it means dollars, not if it means cents. He cannot see any harm in small risks. But surely the charac- ter of the act cannot be decided after this fashion. Gambling is essentially the same if indulged in by a million aire or pauper, whether the stake be S100 or SC. I prefer Walter Scott's uncompromising definition in the pref ace to St Romans Well: "Gambling is a vice which the devil has contrived to make all bis own. Since it has been deprived of whatever pleads an apol- ogy for other vices and is founded en- tirely on the cold-blooded calculation of the most exclusive selfishness. ]" Gambling is an anti-social act or habit and that for two reasons. In the first place 1t is gain without merit, and second it is gain through another's loss. Gambling is not modern vice. It is both ancient and inveterate. It has flourished from time immemorial and in every country under the sun. All nationalities have succumbed to it's tremendous fascination. It is as old as sin, and was rife long before the Roman soldiers cast lots at the foot of the cross for the Savior's seamless robe. Vice scorns geography, and the in every European coun- try, and even in far Eastern lands, are becoming alarmed at the dominance of gambling. And we know too we'll how in our own country working peo pie buy lottery tickets and bet on baseball, football, the elections and on we'll nigh every passing event. Nor do our university students escape the virus which impregnates all our com mercial, social and political life Every class is infected and the increase of gambling among working men syn