BETTING.

Press, Volume LX, Issue 18015, 6 March 1924, Page 14

BETTING.

to thl rmroß or "tst- r-ESS-.' 1 Nr. —\oiir to the "Council of Christian Coarctations ' to answer hert ion bv seel ion the ' Not Statesman's" passage, and to uofinitelr thai bet tin;; j-in. is hereby taken tip by one of its humble members. .Ret tic:; is fin. because it. i.s a transgression ot tho iaw laid down by Jesus Christ. "Tiioii shall love tlie Lord ih v Cod. w; i h all thy bean, and thy neighbour as thys-eif.' That law is the. t-.tandard by which man and all his a.'tt'i'is '.ci!l iiica.-'ii'i'd at- tho "Last 1.) u\ . " Now 1 lie TOO'. [' *" 111e1 [ I hj; <'f I'l't|.iv<> <•: self. the to get .-one.-:lnn|Vi- : ; e|;-gratification ; and tliopurl- '-o o' li i- to gi't. the other 'Y'Uou's myii-.v. <hie! l . I claim, is a hr< a<-h "t our duty. both t,> li"d and to otti' neighbour. l"iii-th(-rrriore. bailing is .-no I'■ ■' .ai;s.- <>! the sorrow- it entails. llwv many home-, have been wrecked. imw many ria'lii'. rs' and ".vivos' hearts liave Ijeeii broken, how - many children have gone half-starved and ill-clad on account of sons' and husbands' betting'*' Proofs may he multiplied of its .sinfulness. but now for the "New statesman passage : Sentence one says 'The good results." etc. The good results that ean be claimed for betting (T do not mean -chat. a. bookie would term good results j - the improvement in the breed of hnr-.es. and then ean only be claimed on tho score that letting is the fostermother of racing. To say that, the bad results have bwn gross! r exaggerated is hardly .wording to i'aet. Of the had results, tho "half lias never been told." The reading of one. page of the history of the Jia.voe wrought by bettirie would be sufficient to convert you. Mr Editor. A glimpse of some of tho gamblers' .horne.s would (-often tho most, callous. The passage goes on to sav '''And the virtuous man," etc. TJic i'aet is a virtuous man would not bet. Proof of this is found in the. next sentence, which «ays. 'The real cure for the evils of Inatinf is—virtue." Tf virtue is the cure, then it must follow that when a man is virtuous he will be cured of his betting. The statement that, "Tho real cure is riot enforced abstinence"' is rather strange. If enforced abstinence ivas imposed on all. betting would cea.se.

The next says "The Churches.etc. This sentence is_ also answered liv the lollowin<r one. viz. : "If a man is cruel '»r mean it is dangerous for him to bet." There arc thousands of men in the world that need to bo saved from themselves that aro victims to every temptation. Likewiso there are numbers whom society needs to be saved from, hence our gaols and asylums. The enforced abstinence preached by the Churches is to strike the evil at its loots; to saa-e men from the gaols and asylums, for '"'prevention is better than cure." Tho next statement is "If men arc just and generous," etc. I fail to see how a man can be either just or generous if he bets. If you will think for a moment "what the meaning of these two words are, you will confess that there is neither the one nor the other in betting. Betting has turned the "Sport of .Kings" into a dirty business. The more dishonourable a man is prepared to be, the better he succeeds at the game. If you know anything about racing you ■will endorse that statement. If you doubt it, I can give you evidence sufficient to convince. "Tremendous responsibility rests unon an Editor because at the Judgment Bar iio musk account for "th© €vil wrought by his publications; so for your r own sake, if not for others, cease to sponsor betting.—Yotrrs, etc., MY BROTHER'S KEEPER:

[This letter is very absurd, but we print it becaaise it is tho only reply that has been forthcoming to the passage we quoted from the "New {statesman."—Ed., "The Press."]