Los Angeles herald., 1908-08-10
CONDEMNS ALL
CHANCE GAMES
DR.. STRAT0N HITS HARD Al
GAMBLING
SAYS SUCCESS is NOT GAuGED
BY MONEY RETURNS
breaches Strong Sermon Against All
Forms of Corruption in High
as Well as in Low
Places

"I,et us beware" said the speaker
"of measuring success on mere money
basis. The miser actually gets to-
gether his gold, but he is not a sue
cess because his work does not serve
the human race nor does it orlng 10
him any true and genuine happiness !, IN
life The bloated millionaire may De
the greatest failure in the community
because all his money cannot puy tne
other things that make life truly sue
cessful-contentment clear con-
science and the realization tnaI ne nslS
served God and helped his fellow man.
while he himself was climbing to VIC
tory in life.
"There are three great signboards on
the highway of life which viii dlfecC
us safely and surely to the goa! Oh
success. The first of these is optimism:
1t pays to look on the bright sloe Oh
things and to keep hopetul front,
despite any encouragement that may
come. Looking at it as a Whole, tne
world is good, and it is getting bet
fer all the while. The man. who does
not believe that is on the road TO
failure, Pessimism paralyzes effort
and consequently finally produces de-
spair.
Pluck Not Luck
1.-THE next signboard on the highway
to success and happiness in life Is SELF
reliance. There is an old saying tnat
Luck is a fool; pluck Is nero. Ihls
is very true The man who is depend
ing upon his luck has only shlttlng
sand beneath his feet. The man VINO
depends upon pluck and his own non
est and earnest effort is absolutely
sure of final success and happiness. He
may fall again and again. He may
suffer many reverses, but self-reliance
and courage as traits in his character
will enable him to rise with new
strength for a greater effort until sue
cess is won. Every danger faced, every
obstacle surmounted, every difhculty
overcome is a granite cube in the RS
ing castle of such manhood. Inc
trouble is that the world is full OF
Micawbers. aimless1y waiting for
something to turn up The really noble
and great soul will turn things up Tor
himself and thus press on to victory.
zone of the greatest curses of our
modern civilization is the gambling
fever which has spread over the world.
1t is especially rife in our own coun-
try. And when 1 speak Of gambling
I do not mean merely the professional
| gamester who makes his living by
fastening himself like parasite on the
body of society. Some of the worst
gambling in our country today is done
| in the drawing rooms of elegant homes,
| but the mere gliding of such vice
does not change it's pernicious nature
The man who plays the stock mar
ket not in legitimate trade, but mere
| Iy for speculation, is gambler as
| contemplate in character and ever
more destructive in influence than the
| liz he ardc In c
professional poker game! A more
righteous crusade could not be inau'
gurated today than an organized anc
determined warfare upon bucket shops
horse racing and stock market gam
| bling. These higher forms of the vice
| are even more destructive than the
grosser forms, because they robe the
| hideous form of chance in the gar
ment of responsibility and by theil
example and influence breed perfect
contagion for gambling on the smaller
scale.
Shot at Horse Racing
"Thank God" exclaimed the speaker
''for a man like Governor Hughes OF
New York, who dared to defy the mil
Iionaire race track gamblers with theil
horde of blackIeg camp followers, anc
to show that band of lawless scoundrels
that they were not greater than the
constitution of the empire state OF
New York! These men everywhere
are in spirit anarchists. They cry out
vehemently for the protection of the
| laws for their own personal property
but they will violate every law of God
and man to serve their own selfish in
| terests and to crafty their own unholy
instincts and desires. I rejoice that
| the fight against race track gambling
| is on in California, and I hope that the
enlightened and law-abiding elements
of this state will wage this battle nero
ically until this pernicious vice is
swept forever from the soil of this fair
and glorious commonwealth.
California is too beautiful and no
BILE to be polluted by such a blight.
This matchless state, stretching down
from the snowy splendors of Mount
| Shasta in the north, across the green
fir forests and by the varied wonders
of the Yosemite TO the orange groves
and the blue waters of this lovely
southland, is destined to become the
recreation ground both winter and
summer of the people of our entire
country. They will come here for rest
and refreshment, and new inspiration
in their work, and they should be able
to come to an atmosphere that is not
polluted by the disgusting exhibitions
of RIGHTEOUSNESS, drunkenness and
crime that always characterize the race
| track.
1.-THE last signboard leading us to the
goal of success is that of righteous
ness. No man can be truly successful
| in this life who is not good man,
and I do not mean by that that he
must have sanctimonious pretense, but
that he must live and act on the
square. He must have those elements
of honesty and honor and manly purity
which grow out of practical goodness.
We see pathetic illustrations of this
| need in our country today. We have
seen president of one of our great
est life insurance companies dying
prematurely from broken heart be-
cause he had allowed the temptations
of his position to sweep him into dis
honesty and corruption that was final
ly discovered and exposed. We see one
of our United States senators-a man
whose name was formerly the syno-
nym of popularity and genial good
fellowship--now the object of execra-
ton and contempt from all of his fell
| low citizens and butt for coarse Jests
of cartoonists and photographers be-
cause his character lacked the ele-
ment of honesty and simple, old-faSh-