The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1914-07-30

cast from society through the curse
of drink. that that one great wrong
can not be paid for with all the tax
es of the combined liquor interests.
Come let us take off our eye glass
es with the lense made of silver dol
lars and look at this matter in the
right light. / am not church go
ing man, but boys, we must hand it
to them now. If they were ever
right in their lives they are right on
this question. Picture in your
minds eye the girls and boys ruined
and made criminals; picture the
beautiful families rent assunder and
the bright prospects shattered by
this abomlnable curse to the Ameri
can people, and then answer this
one simple question: Is it worth it?
The second curse, gambling! This
is one of the evils that we can not
argue from a revenue basis, but
must take it in the light of graft and
put the blame where it belongs. l
dare say that nearly as many fam
lilies have been ruined by this men
ace as by the curse of drink. We
must not lay the blame at the door
of petty larceny, grating politicians;
we must shoulder the burden of this,
because we are guilty. We have
too many men who talk between
elections and tell you that the wrong
man is in office and he will ruin the
town because he allows gambling.
What does this poor jelly fish do
when primaries and elections come?
He either stays home or at his place
of business, and then after election
be starts his calamity cry again.
Does he get out and try to get some
honest man to ill the Office. man
who does not want to run because
he will be compelled to mingle with
petty grating, low brow politicians?
No! be simply is one who deplores
the result, non worker, a drone, a
selfish individual. We need the
honest man, who is fear less and goes
into Office without an abundance of
promises; then we will have a man
who has the heart and backbone to
stop gambling.
Creates Crime
Friends, / can't begin to tell you.
really how bad gambling is. aud the
many evil effects it has upon man
and woman. Grimes of all kinds
are committed from that cause. l
have gambled at every thing from
the bang-tailed ponies to faro, and
what is the result? l had great op-
portunities, my father sent me TO
college and then put Inc through
law course. l had as nice a home
as any man would want, and wife,
boys, that may be equalled but new
er beaten. l also have mother,
six sisters and three brothers who
are respected by all. Now what is
the result of my gambling? l lost
my wife and home and broke the
hearts of my dear mother, sisters
and brothers. Have they turned me
down? No! They write me fine let
ters of courage; but am deserving
of such loyalty? Can l ever repay
them for what they have gone
through?
Think of what l have sacrificed
for gambling. A loving wife and a
home to go to, where | could put on
my slippers, smoke and read. or
talk to an intelligent woman, do as
| pleased, and always have her smil-
ing face to greet me: and all for
what? For gambling. / became lax
in business and here | am. | have
my empty cell to greet me, and long
lonely hours to think about it all,
and the same old question arises.
Does it pay?
I could go on and on and tell of
the curse of gambling, but l don't
want to tire you, and it would take
a book of many volumes to print it
all.
In conclusion / want to say to my
friend the doctor, who is surely a
man, and one we need in
our struggles, don't get before a
body of alienists and tell them how
to cure the effect, but get out a.
mongst the people and strike at the
very foundation of the evil. Strike
at the heart of the monster if you
will land him. Stop the manufac-
ture of liquor and gambling devices.
Hunt men, honest, decent men like
those two great contrasts, President
Wilson and Ex- President Roose-
velt, who are not afraid to take the
bull by the horns and put through
legislation they believe is right. Put