GAMBLING.

Auckland Star, Volume XVIII, Issue 65, 18 March 1887, Page 3

GAMBLING.

Key. ,G B Monro on ttic Totalisator,

Clmrcli Lotteries, etc,

At tho rccont mooting of the Presbytorian Assembly at Wellington it.was resolved that it was desirable for all ministers, once a year at least, to preach a &ermon especially directed against tho vice of gambliug, In accordance with this recommendation ltev G. B. Monro, Moderator of the Assembly, preached a sermon on "Gambling " in St. Luke's Church, Rerauora, on Sundar ovening last, In the course of his romarks ho said : —

It has to bo acknowledged that hitherto, as a church, wo have been somewhat indifferent an to th/a evil of gambling, which.has beon eating, like a canker, into the very heart of society. Horo and there a voice has beon lifted up against it, but tbo (jin has been spreading on every hand, carrying commercial and moral ruin to hundreds. Tho Church has beon aslfiop, or at least unwatchful in regard to this matter, and with regret, it must frankly bo confosted, in some ways we have been countenancing and fostering the evil. Gambling has assumed such gigantic proportions, especially in the colonies, that itmuat be faced and grappltd with,, as men do with the venomous adder. The General Assembly of tho Presbyterian Church of New Zealand has not hesitated to deal with thu subject in a way which must commend itself to those who are interested in tho social and moral welfare of this laud. The future of New Zealand will depend very much upon tho character and practices of the present inhabitants. Wo are driving the pilos on which the commercial, focial anrt moral structure must rest, and if wo aro .not careful as to tho foundation, what will bo tho consequouces'r Anyone who has travelled over this boautiful country, and obsorvod its physical aspects, and notod its untold resources, can ec.o nu applicatioti to Now Zealand in tho ancient description of Palestine—" A land of brooks of water, of fountains, and do;>ths that spring out of valleys and hills ; a land of wheat and barloy and vines, and fig trees, aud pomegranates, a land of oil, olive and honoy; a land wherein fchou shtilt, eat broad without scarceness", thou ehalt not lack anything in it ; a land who*e stonos are iron, and out of whoso hills thou mayost dig braay. ' But if wo weakon our foundations and allow ovils to creep into our moral and social life, which may easily bo crushed at present, wo will lind it true of nations, as of individuals, " that the way of transgressors is hard." It was this which influenced the Assembly in its discussion and decision upon the terrible vice of gambling. it' we examine one or two points wo shall soo how necessary was tho finding of the Assembly:—" They recognised the enormity of the evils which in this new land stand in the way of tho Chuich of Christ and tho truo welfare of the pooplc, especially that they deplore the extent to which Rambling, Sabbath desecration, and the lack of homo religion prevail ; . . . and further, in the honest belief that tho sanction which has been given to gambling through the legalising of thu totalisator has developed the spirit of gambling, end the actual practice of it, that they resolve to address to tho Government a respectful remonstrance, against the continuance of such sanction "

That gambling lira spread throughout the length and breadth of thia laud, you can aeo wherovor you go. As you pass through the country in the railway, you can see, in the neighbourhood of almost every town, however small, a race-course ; while you can scarcely open a newspaper without finding column upon column devoted to a description of this and that race. You can hardly travel any distance in a steamboat without seeing racehorses on board, and you certainly cannot close your ears to the animated conversation regarding thia race and that horse. Surely there are none so ignorant as to say that gambling and racing do not go hand in hand. 1 grant that horse-racing could exist without such, and certainly I am free to acknowledge that there is no sight more beautiful than the movements of a graceful and thoroughly well bred hcrse ; but how do mutters stand at present? Do wo find horse-racing without tbogambling,ordo we find horse racing made attractive by the favourable opportunities given for gambling under the sheltering wing of legislation '.' It is, to me, appalling to find the widespread nature of thia curse. It is the besetting em of this new land. I noticed in one of our evening papers (the Star) a thoughtful and outspoken reference to this subject, and as it quotes the remarks oi a clergyman in the South of New Zealand representing a eister denomination, let me read what was said :

Preaching upon turf morality, he said that at tho last Dunodin Cup meeting over £29,000 paseed through the legalised gambling machine, No doubt this amount included sums staked many times over, but if they took account of betting in other forma, the total would probably run up to ecore3 of thousands of pounds. Add together the money gambled on all the racecourses of the colony, and wo geb a result truly appalling, probably not far short of a million exchanged in betting transactions on New Zealand races in a single year. Surely this is a fact which challenges everyone concerned for the thrift, prosperity, and moral health of the people. But the vice of gambling is not confined to this colony. A religious periodical published in Melbourne stated somn time ago :

—" Gambling is now an evil of appalling proportions. It is eating its wuy into the very core of society, working havoc and ruin. It culminates once a year, of courae, ia the week of the Cup Carnival. According to one paper the bets, in connection with various races at that season, must have reached the frightiul total of £1,650,000." But the evil exists in the Home country to such an extent that Christian ministers of all denominations have been compelled to lift up a warning voice against it. Here is a quotation from the addrees of one minister:-There are hundreds of young men here, I believe, who would not lay a bet of sixpence, because they know it to be wrong ; but the general conscience of the community ia grievously loose in this matter. Gambling enters into every department of life ; it permeates every branch of buainesß ; it poisons the secular Press ; it defiles the talk of the street. I do not wonder that a person said to me lately: " When you have the ear of young men do warn them against this vice mat is becoming bo prevalent" What I have Slid will surely convince the most sceptical that the evil of gambling is widespread. You find it wherever you travel. It is thrust upon you, do what you please to avoid it. lam inclined to think tnat gambling has oftentimes its origin at tne billiard-table. Go where you will, you find that the best rooms in hotels, aB to size, light, pictures, and furniture, are set apart for billiards, and when you glance a« the players iyou find that the majority of them are young men, who are possibly apprentices to their business and earning but small wages. This naturally makes one anxious and thoughtful. How many of our professional thieves and forgers began their downward course in the billiard-room 1 Playing for small sums, it may be, and possibly losing, they have to steal or forge to maintain their passion for gambling. If you could writo the history of many ciimes, and many bankruptcies, you would possibly find their beginning iv the small and fancied innocent Btakea at the billiardtable. I have heard of young men, who were only in their teens, and earning only small wages, entering hotels in this city and suburbs, and staking large sums of money in billiards ! It is not uncharitable to aßk : how did they get the money ? But the practice of gambling, probably, in maDy caeeß, originated and fostered in the billiard-room, naturally gravitates to the turf, where it assumes a more exciting form and more gigantic proportions. Try and calculate, it you can, the evils that now from gambling. Drinking, business disaster, embezzlement, beggary, ruined homes, blasted careers, black despair, self destruction—tbeße form the dark catalogue of evila which, in numerous instances, flow direct from this source. From the north to the south of Hew Zealand, you hear business men complaining of hard times. You are told o£ hundreds out of employment. But does this commercial depression affect the attendance and expenditure on the racecoureo? It appears to me that, in proportion to decrease of lawful tiade, is the increase of auch practices. Just as crime and vice grew in intensity in France as the Revolution developed, so do you find the spirit of pleasure and gambling grow in proportion to the growth of hard times in business. Now, what must be the outcome of all this unnecessary excitement- and extravagance? Will it be the moral and social elevation of' the people? Surely not. Aagamblingßprings out of the lowest passionß in human nature, and blunts all the liner feelings of humanity, it will lead, unlees crushed and euppressed, to indolence and dishonesty. It will poison all the avenueß of commerce. It will make us a weak and indolent people. T EOltmnly believe that the legalising of tLtSSSi SS&VSSSi. *X £ Sato""—

the practice is right. Xt further leads many to risk their money, under tho impreeeion that it will be protected. The former customs of gambling were so uncertain that the more cautious were wary and careful in staking their money; but the totalisator eeems to give justice and security, and under this delusion they ore tempted to risk more. But tho frightful scenes and scandals so fre quently described by the Press connected with the totalisator, show that it has proved the means of increasing the evils of gambling. It was said the other day by a writer in tho Evening Star that nine-tenths of all the horse-racing swindlos aro rendered possible by the totalisator. ' If this bo the caso, there is urgent need for an immediate remonstrance being forwarded to the Government against its continuance. But I cannot clobo without a reference to somo of the practices which receive encouragoment from the Christian Church.

There waa a time when I could not see any evil in rallies and bazaaid. The end in view — the liquidation of church debt— blindod as to the principle involved. But since I have studied the subject more carefully, I have come to see that the principle of lottoriee and bazaars is the same as that manifested on tho racecourse, and that, if we are to bo in a position to protost and condemn the evils of gambling, wo must keep our hands clean in the matter. The argument that poisons receive sm equivalont in church lotteries is a mero quibble, for tho same spirit of speculation is developed as when men place their monoy in the totalisator. If bazaars were conducted on ordinary business principles, i.e., an equivalent given for the money spent, thoy would bo free from all consure, and might do good, not only in securing money, but in bringing membors of a church togother in a social capacity.

In tho intorests,then,of tho rising genera tion, in tho interests of commercial and social purity, in the interests of our common Christianity, lot us personally and colloctively do what wo can to eiipprees the fascinating and growing vice of gambling. Lot us speak out plainly against it. Let us demand the suppression of tho totnlisator. Let us by example and precept warn the young against the practice. That it is destructive to public morals and highly detrimental to tho spiritual and eternal intorosts of those who givo way to it, the histories of tho " gambling hells " in Europe, such as Monaco aud Monte Carlo, aulliciently prove. In our various spheres as citizons, and members of the Church, let us emphatically expose, condemn, and shun the demoralising practice of gambling, and let us use our utmost offorte to encourage and develop "that righteousness which ever exalts a nation."