Times-promoter., 1908-02-14
GOV. NOEL'S MESSAGE

bucket shop and pistol carrying, Gov.
Noel sent his first message of import
ance to both houses of the Mississ ,ppi
legislature this NOR Gng. The rec om-
mendations he suggests leave no douot
but what the fight to the dealth of the
saloon in Mississippi is on. He not
only wants state wide, or statutory
prohibition, but wants it Incorporated
in the constitution of the state.
Gov. Noel is no less severe with the
bucket shop, and after showing the easy
road from the legitimate to the ille-
climate dealing in the products of the
country, which makes gambler out of
man without his knowledge, recon-
mends that it be closed completely and
forever and that every person con-
nected with the operations of such
gambling institution be made criminal
and speedily sent to the pen. Besides
| being made criminal every person who
provides building, a telegraph or tel
ephone or other facility, for operating
future gambling, be made liable for loss
to patrons, recoverable by the nearest
relatives if the victim himself will not
institute legal proceedings.
Gov. Noel recommends that more re.
strictions be thrown around the sale
and ownership of pistols, and suggests
that the crime of manslaughter by
means of such weapons be higher and
the punishment more severe.
Following is the full text of the
Governors message:
Gentlemen of the Senate and House of
Representatives:
One of the chief objects of wise leg
islation is increased security for life,
liberty and property by suppression of
crime, the chief causes for which, in
this state, are concealed weapons,
gambling and liquor drinking Effec-
tive blows ut these evils will greatly
reduce the number and grade of all
offenses. While laws, of themselves,
can not make evil men good, they can
make crime perilous and profitless, there
by restraining criminal instincts.
Pistols are made and used chiefly for
taking human life. For nothing else are
they adapted. Men who carry them are
brutalized by constant association with
an instrument of death and it's sugges.
ton of shedding human blood. Contem-
plation and preparation of necessity for
use of a pistol often creates such ne
cessity, seemingly, when none really ex-
lists. Additional restrictions should be
thrown around the sale and ownership
of deadly weapons. The defenses should
be better defined and possibly narrowed
to weapons of the largest size. Except
as to officers, otherwise than in connec-
tion with arrests, manslaughter is the
least offense of which jury could con-
vict when homicide was committed
with a deadly weapon which had been
carried concealed. The penalty for man
slaughter being largely within the dis
cretion of the court, could be adjusted
to meet emergencies.
Gambling in it's various forms is one
of the prevalent crimes of the age, lead
ing to nearly all the others, especially
thefts, embezzlements, murders Dealing
in futures is one Of it's most seductive
and ruinous ')rms. Speculation in actual
products and bucket shop betting on the
rise and fall of such products shade off |
into each other so gradually that many
go from one to the other without being
aware when they cross the line, grad
ually convincing themselves that there
is no difference, and that the two widely |
different transactions are identical. Le-
gitimate trading, to men of ordinary
prudence, possesses some safeguards. |
Speculation in futures becomes so all |
absorbing as to draw to destruction a |
very large share of it's blinded and help
less victims. Farmers, manufacturers
and consumers are vitally interested in
maintaining stable prices, but the inter-
ests of gamblers in futures is exactly the
reverse, and they resort to imaginable
device and falsehood to so manipulate
markets as to rob outsiders. They are
curse and a blight to all communities
which they infest.
Public Sentiment Asks That Bucket
Shops Close.
Public sentiment asks that the bucket
shops be closed, completely and forever.
Besides being made criminal,
every dealer should be made liza
BILE for all losses to his patrons; and
every person who provides building,
telephone or telegraph, or other facility
for operating future gambling, should
also be made liable for such losses re-
coverable by the nearest relatives, if the
victim himself will not institute legal
proceedings. When all who contribute
to make the operation of bucket shops
possible are made equally responsible,
ciyilly and criminally, with the opera
tors, as in morals they are, the evil
will be effectively suppressed.
The brand of crime has been placed
upon liquor selling by the moral sense
of all the counties in the state, except
few on the gulf coast and the Missis
sippi river front. There tie saloons and
their friends ask now to be let alone.
This is self-refuted appeal. They do
not let those localities alone that have
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