But can any Christian principle be shown to prove that gambling is wrong in itself? Yes, plenty.
1.—It is selfish, and we ought to seck each other's good. © In fair trade both parties to the bargain pre satisfied. but in this one takes the other's money and gives nothing in_ return, except a short burst of excitement and a subsequent feeling of disappoint-
Probably we may divide gamblers into four classes.
First, there is the professional. He makes it his business, and he knows how to make it profitable. He makes up his book so that he cannot lose on the whole, and the figures. Guoted above show that he makes great profit out of it. Yet I don't suppose any of us would be proud to have a bookmaker in our fernily. No, the professional gambler, be it at cards or horse racing, has none to praise him.
Secondly, there is the habitue—the old gambler who loves the excitement of it, has a-1vn of luck sometimes, but gets into debt at others. He, or she, inveigles other people into it on the score of sociability, gets hardened and becomes a moral plague spot in society. The habitual gambler is to be despised, or pitied, like the drug addict: Such habits are vicious. 8ut the drug addict generally indulges his vice in secret: gambler spreads his net and catches men.
Thirdly, there is the ordinary man who loves his bit of relaxation. It really seems hard to argue against his little hit of pleasure after a hard day's work in an office. He doesn't gain or lose much, but the small points add zest to the game. Perhaps we should only reckon such betting as a small moral deli-quency. Bat he might do so much better. Preui too, and he doesn't ly he does take open-air
care much for serious reading:: it bores him. And s0 he wastes an hour or two daily at cards, he becomes selfish and stops late the club. The evening is spent in the same way. Perhaps a good pert of Sunday too. He forgets Fourthly, there is the novice. He is drawn into the common habit by its sociability: he gets bitten, loses money to more experienced players, and of course they don't let him off: to do so would be to encourage him to be careless, an unpardonable fault in the card-; -player; so he drifts into debt, doesn't mind, becomes smart and idle. Then perhaps he pulls himself up and only indulges in small points at cards, or on races and sweepstakes, or else he becomes a habitue, loses his place and turns to an idle life.
We really can't say any good for any of them! Betting is at its best but a poor form of relaxation; at its worst it leads to many unhappy homes-~ ge dishonesty and disgrace. But multitudes are so weak about it that the only hope is for the strong to join in a crusade against it and to" urge "total abstinence'? for the public good. To legalize gambling and turn it into a profitable' source of taxation would be to lead the nation on the road to ruin.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.