Bisbee daily review., 1906-07-25
GAMBLING GETS \ SCATH|NG
 REbUKE
Vigorous Sermon Preached By Rev. Logic in Douglas
 Last Sunday,
(BY REV. GEO. LoGIE.)


 l-ie author of this psalm. He had come to believe that God must have a controlling share ID every work or institution that is to be worth its cost. We must build with a worthy mo tive; We must work righteousness and truth into the foundations, the walls and the roof; and we must oc- cupy the finished structure for God, or we build in vain.
 All true success IS based on honest purpose and honest work Life's best prizes are not won by luck, they are always earned. God has made this q world of law. not a world of blind chance. So that the outcome of faith and righteousness and honest work is not uncertain, nor is the outcome of the opposites of these in any doubt. No greater curse can come to any in diyidual church, or community than the belief that any of life's best things are dependent on chance. We must honestly earn lifa's prizes either before or after we get them or they will prove themselves a curse and a scourge to us. Tn the sweat of they brow thou shall eat bread" Work out your own salvation"
 And yet men are inveterate gamb- lers. We are always looking for sh Tt cuts to success. And let it be grant ed that very frequently men find a short cut to success-a sham sue cess. The gambling spirit is all per yasive, and it strikes at the very roots Of true living. Let man come to de- pend entirely on his luck and he will be little further use to himself, his community or his God.
 The gambling spirit has entered the business world. Men gamble not only on horse races but on stocks and even on corner lots. l do not say that there are not honest investments in stocks and town lots, but We all know that there are many of these transactions that are pure gambling.
 Then there is the licensed public saloon gambling. It is scarcely necss- sary to denoulce this, especially in a church service, as there are few in any civilized community to stand up and say good word for it. Even tho heathen king of Siam has abolished it in a part of his dominions and is planning to abolish it entirely. Pub lie gambling makes no wealth, 1t simply robs the honest toiler and his wife and children, if he has a family. Oh, but some one says, look at the taxes that we get out of it. Well there are men ready to sell their own souls and the community'S soul for S1G00. But in this case he is surely short-sighted, par-blind mortal who thinks to advance even. the material welfare of his community by fostering the gambling den. It impoverishes materially, and blights morally.
 It is pleasant, perhaps, for church people to throw rocks at the saloon and it's annex, the gambling den. Let us get a little closer home. The gambling spirit does not confine it. self to the business world and the saloon world-it enters society and the home. A recent number of ore of the magazines quotes the New Haven Register as thinking that the growth. among women and in the home, of. the habit of playing games for prizes or for money is one of the most alarming features of our pres ent social phase. To crush out gamb- ling the reform must begin in the home. The Register says: For some good people form various churches a prayer meeting or Sun day school has become tame and out of date. The whist party is the thing. For excitement it will beat a church sewing circle or missionary meeting at every turn. Just here is where the difficulty is found in enforcing laws against gambling. When representa- tive good people in any community are indulging in the gaming pro pensity it can hardly be expected that public opinion Will powerfully support the efforts of civic authorities in sup pressing the vice. The situation calls for a campaign of moral education in the public schools and in the churches"
 In a similar vein the Springfield Re publican recently called attention to the alarming growth of society gamb- ling for prizes and money, particularly through the use of bridge whist
 But what if the churches themselves are tarred with the same sticki The church of Christ was instituted to carry the banner of her Lord before the world. If she is to be worthy of the trust she must keep her hands clean. Every church that is to do ner Masters work must be built on foua- dation of righteousness and high moral principle. If she is to purify the world she must herself be pure If the salt have lost it's savor where with shall it be salted?"
 In the matter of money raising there is especial danger. Volumes might be written on the topic, Low ering morals in raising money" The whole grab bag system is belittling to the church and unworthy of her work and her Master.
 But what shall be said when church openly enters on a gambling campaigni A few weeks ago one Sunday morning an article on the front page of one of our daily papers notified the citizens of Douglas of their opportunity to get in on a town lot raffle or gamble under the auspices of the local Catholic church, at a cost of one dollar per head. We were in formed that thus we would have "a dollars worth of fun, do a dollars worth of good" and earn still another