Evening star., 1922-08-22
Close the Race Game Shops, !,

Inc way uI the race track gam bier
is to be made hard in the District. The
police are instructed to wage Il relent-
less campaign against the places
where bets are taken, money is col
lected and odds are displayed. The
open shops where this game is con
Quoted. f1ourishing despite the failure
Of the law heretofore, are to be closed.
II the courts will not act the cases will
nevertheless be piled up higher. until
the cost Of bonds and lawyers fees &C.
cumulates to the point Of wiping out
profits. Perhaps meanwhile the courts
will act.
That is the program that has Just
been announced, to put an end. so far
as the District authorities can go, to
condition that is a burning scandal to
this community. In its prosecution the
police will have the best wishes and
support Of all law-abidins Washing
ton.
In The Star last Sunday was printed
an article which showed how race
track gambling costs the city Of New
York 100000 day. That much money
changes hands every twenty-four
hours, not in legitimate trade, but in
crooked game in which the player has
a very small chance Of winning. This
article set forth the elaborate mechan-
ism of the game. the great number in.
voIved. the many hands that have to
be flied with rake-offs and profits and
consequently the extremely small per-
centage that is left for the few who
win. It is not straight game. The
races are not legitimate or honest, as
a rule. Only the horses are on the
square.
Those who play the ponies do not
think Of their narrow chances. With
few exceptions they believe that they
are on the inside. They buy tips that
they suppose are based on "inside
DOPE" that is, on some ones knowl-
edge Of the way certain races are
fixed" They do not back their judg-
ment on one horse as against others
because he is faster. but because they
think that his winning has been az
ranged by the crooks who manipulate
the game at the tracks.
There is something oathesome about
this competition of dishonesty, so de
moralizing in its effect upon all who
engage in it. But there is something
pitiful as well in it, for the great ma
jority of those who play the game can
not afford to do so. They are not play
ing with their own money, theirs
alone. but the money Of their wives
and children. or even the money Of
their employers or their partners.
Dishonesty breeds dishonesty. The
game is crooked. Why should the
player not be crooked as well"
Let ne beat, that bunch once good
and hard, and clean up big winning.
and I'll quit the game" says the aver
age race pool player. He is always on
the verge Of quitting-when he has
broken even OF has gone over for a
net winning Of substance. But he
rarely quits. Sometimes he finds him.
Sell III a. prison cell, OIl d. CNdTS &c Ol
embezzlement or theft or highway rob-
berry. and then he may have to quit
perforce. How can he quit when the
opportunity and temptation to play
are spread before him in the city's
streets, when hand books are thrust
upon him right and left. when pool
rooms are running full blast, with the
sidewalks crowded with bulletin
watchersr
Is the District government to leave
these men and women-for the play
ers include both sexes-at the mercy
of the great organized swindle called
the racing game" simply because for
some reason not yet disclosed the
courts are slow in prosecuting fragrant
offenders? That question has for the
present been answered in the negative.
Now it remains to be seen what effect
continuous arrests viii have upon the
local branch OF this great gamble