Bluefield evening leader. [volume] (Bluefield, W. Va.) 1906-1911, 1908-02-05

at least impressed the thought of the
nation. we got rid OF the Louisiana
lottery and then we congratulated
ourselves upon our virtue. The men
in charge OF the lottery never did a
tithe OF the harm that the grain
gamblers and the stock gamblers OF
New York do every day. nor did
they exercise anything like the cor
rupting influences over politics. 1t
had been asserted without denial
that 80 per cent of the New YORK
purchases and sales OF stocks and of
produce are merely bets upon the
market value with no intention on
the part of the vendor TO deliver or
ceive. This is not business; II is no:
commerce; il is not speculation: It
is common, vulgar gambling, aud
when to the ordinary chances tha:
the gambler takes are added the ex-
traordinary chances due to the Sc
cret manipulation OF the market by
those who are on the inside. the
stock market becomes worse than an
honestly conducted gambling resort
III man takes a chance upon a
wheel of fortune. he knows just what
his chance is, and he knows that the
owner OF the wheel has a percent
age of chances in his favor but when
a stranger CANDLES upon the stock
or grain market he is at the mercy
of those who by obtaining control
of the visible supply. can destroy
every natural law of business rule
which the outsider knows. While
th3 laws of each stat. ana tue laws
Of th4 nation, should preent, rs IA
as laws can, the use Cf these com
mercial activities for gambling pur-
poses, there must be back of the Jaw
an educated public opinion AMI [
beg the spiritual advisors Of our
great cities to consider whether
they cannot advance religion as well
as morality by pointing out chat the
commandment Thou shalt not steal.
is openly and notoriously viola'cd I'm
the stock market. and in the grain
pit by those who profess to believe
in the Bible and to have respect for
its teachings"
Mr.. Bryan's subject was Thou
Shalt Not Steal" He had not select
ed the subject with any intention of
presenting an argument against
stealing. he said, but it was his pur-
pose, rather to apply the command
ment to present conditions. He di-
vided larceny into three classes
petit. grand and glorious. BY glori-
Gus larceny. he said. he referred to
the tendency to regard stealing upon
a large scale as less reprehensible
than stealing upon small scale,
which has led to the suggestion that
the commandment be amended to
read Thou Shalt Not Steal on a
Small Scale"
Mr.. Bryan took the administration
OF the tax laws to illustrate what he
called larceny in violation of law.
III two men live side by side" said
he, and one contributes in taxation
ten dollars when his Just share IS
only five, and the other only pays
five when he ought to pay ten. one
loses five dollars that he ought tn
keep, while the other keeps five dol
lars that he ought to give to the
government. The effect in this case
Is Just the same as IL one man tool,
the other mans property and an
piled II to his own use. The fact
that the government. acting as a col
lector took the five dollars from the
man who is oyer-burdened and gave
it to the man who is under-burder-
ed, does not change the character ~
the transaction.
The subject Of private monopoIv
furnishes us another illustration of
larceny, and here it is not petit lar
ceny nor even grand larceny: it rises
to the proportions Of glorious lar
ceny. not only because Of The amount
taken, but because oI the respacta-
bility Of those who received the
stolen goods. The object of n private
monopoly is to control The pri,e of
the thing sold; 70 IS to corner .ha
market. The theory is Stat mans
necessities require him TO buy cor
tain things which sustains his life