The Roswell daily record. [volume] (Roswell, N.M.) 1903-current, 1907-01-23

themselves, the business men of Ne,
Mexico are, as far as I can ~ascertait
from careful inquiry. almost unan
mously in favor of the passage of
law abolishing licensed gambling. I
is not remarkable that these tw'
classes of men should be against il
very large. There is no business NOR,
surely profitable than the retail Il
quor business. Liquor is bought b.
the barrel and sold in the saloon.
by the glass; the percentage of prof
is very large. AS for gambling car
enormous and sure. The games mos
| general in New Mexico are so al
ranged that the chances are many
times in favor of the proprietors. Some
of those games, as player here af
ford the player yer $50 per CEN
less chance of winning than similar
games afford IN the large gambling
establishments of Europe, which pay
enormous annual dividends to their
stockholders. We are to expect, there
fore, that the II of saloons and
gambling houses will from the point
of view of self-interest, violently op-
pose any measure to abolish licensed
gambling. They can well afford to
use every effort to prevent the enact
ment of laws which will result in cut
ting off these large and sure profits.
Looking at the matter from the
standpoint of the people whom you
represent, the question for yol to con-
slider, is whether gambling is a bus
nize as legitimate, which you nave
a right to allow to continue in view
of the enormous and unqueStioned ev-
lis hat result from it, the immense
loss it entails upon the legitimate bus
mess of the community, and the
large expense it puts upon the tax
payers of the Territory through the
prosecution and care of criminals
whose crimes are directly or indirect
ly traceable to it.
$4,000 >'HS hAS h~F
existed throughout all civilization and
eve in the most advanced communi-
ties. Most of these evils can be re-
by legislation, but a time
comes in every community when some
of them can and should be abolished.
time has come in New Mexico
il regard to licensed gambling. 1
not advocate it's abolition now,
did | not feel SUR that it is demand
ed by a large majority of the people
the Territory; for, if that were not
the case any law against it would be
well nigh impossible to enforce. There
are many people who for I reason
or another do not care to proclaim
their opinions in regard to the mat
ter. 1t is my duty to proclaim what
of the people, and it is yours to
enact laws hat will uphold that sen
The ~practicability of eliminating
for years it has held sway
and where it was predicted that ordi
nances against it could not be enforc-
has been demonstrated. This is
true not only in cities outside of New
Mexico, such as Tucson and Ell Paso,
in New Mexico itself. In Roswell
md Artesia it has been absolutely
and not only the business
men but every other class of the in
labitants, including most of those
habit, do not hesitate to express their
satisfaction and relief at the expulsion
If this incubus. l quote from a let
,er received from 4 of the largest
business firms in the Pecos Valley,
n reply to an inquiry concerning the
of the prohibition, a firm of
clear-seeing business
men, whose views are not warped by |
sentimentality of any kind:
I'VE note with much interest
your inquiry of the 9th Instant,
as to what effect the abolition of
gambling a mad in the town of
Roswell, and in reply beg to
state that, in our opinion, not
only has it proven beneficial in
the way of improvement and de-
velopment in the smaller homes
but it has stimulated business, |
building, and all conditions gen
orally. Collections are better 4 |
entirely more satisfactory, par
ticularly from those people who
we're hard to collect from before
One Of the very greatest bless