THE GROWTH OF GAMBLING

Otago Daily Times, Issue 8557, 27 July 1889, Page 6 (Supplement)

THE GROWTH OF GAMBLING

(By the Eev. C. F. Aked, St. Helens, In the Pall Mall Budget:) To the man who cares about such trifles as the future of our race, the growth of gambling in this day presents a problem bewildering and appalling. Among the working classes the mania has reached a pitch of which only those who associate with them can form a proper conception. It is not only on horse racing, pedestrianism, and athletics that men gamble; they bet about everything I The other evening a friend of mine saw a group of "men watching some worms wriggle along the ground, and he discovered that a circle had been drawn, some four or five worms, one for each onlooker, placed in the centre, and a " sweep " made, the owner pro tern of that worm which first reached the circumference taking the pool. This is a little thing, but it is typical ; the poison is in our blood. The women, too, are beginning to gamble with a passion and a frenzy such as men can scarcely rival. The tales which teetotallers tell of furniture pawned, homes desolated, children starved, because the mother is a drunkard can be paralleled by stories of equal horror, "gambling" being substituted for drink. Tickets for various gambling transactions are bought week by week; the agent of the infernal system comes to the house as regularly as the tallyman ; money given by the husband for housekeeping goes in betting, and the result can be guessed. In the nature of gambling, by the hope it inspires, it tends to its own perpetuation; gambling drives to drink ; drink encourages gambling; there is a network of evils, and the issue from them is dark. The report of convocation referred to suggests a determined and organised crusade against this as against a foe of the common weal; "it must be fought as drink is being fought." Some preliminary consideration of the forces which have given gambling snob an impetus may be dssirable. 1. The public house encourages gambling, and in the changed conditions under which the publican plies his trade may be found something of the explanation sought. The licensed victualler is no longer a " victualler " at all; it is not now his business to provide good accommodation for man and beastWeller senior is out of date. The publican lives not upon the custom of travellers, but upon that of fuddlers. And the fierce competition which obtains in his trade, as in every other, compels him to have an eye to business. Gambling affords a means of drawing and of keeping custom ; so sporting papers are provided, a card in the window announces that such and such journals are taken, the earliest wires are obtained, the publican turns bookmaker on a small scale, or induces bookmakers to patronise his snuggery, sweeps are arranged, and all tbe paraphernalia of the professional gambler are brought into play. One of the oldest and most influential public house valuers in the Midlands, a man whose name is known over five counties, said to me with reference to a certain public house of the old fashioned sort—" That kind of thing can't be made to pay nowadays; if I had the house I should go in for a bit of betting, and I could retire in 10 years." What the law may be with reference to such proceedings nobody seems to know; sphinx riddleu and the gibberish of the quacks are ABC compared witli the question as to what is and what is not illegal betting. But if the law can take cognisance of these things, then it ought to be enforced; and if it cannot, the matter is quite as well worth the attention of our legislators as dear sugar and a cheap cut. 2. The " upper classes " encourage gambling; their example has been pernicious and disastrous. This vice, at least, has grown downwards from the top. The convocation report asks for plain speaking, for remonstrance by employers and by the clergy, for tracts, lectures, and the like. Yes, but what is it but most offensive cant and rant to take this stand against the practices of the poor, and to let the recreations of the rich go unrebuked? The Prince of Wales, with, of course, the aristocracy behind him, has done much to popularise the evil. Has convocation anything to say to him 1 Recently his Royal Highness went to Leicester to the ! races. The church bells were rung in honour of his visit to the thieves of the turf. ' Cer- I tain Nonconformist ministers vigorously protested against the iniquity. Convocation wants plain speaking; is it oh the side of the Baptist parsons who denounced, or on the side of the Prince who fraternised with the gamblers and the churchmen who rang the bells 1 At all events we can cease canting, and it may be that a little plain speech about our elders and superiors from my lords of convocation would do no great barm 1 3. Wealthy corporations encourage gambling. It is true that they have neither a body to be kicked nor a soul to be damned; but they have pockets, and their only sensibilities are there. Betting in connection with pigeon flying prevails to an incredible extent, and even railway companies foster it. This is how it is managed: Baskets are consigned to the station masters at different places, and the printed labels instruct the company's servants to loose the birds " clear of wires " immediately on the arrival of the train, and to return the empty basket to the address given. Meanwhile, at home groups of men are eagerly waiting for the pigeons to fly in, and are making their books ou the " event." Surely the railway companies might refuse allow their servants to open these Sunday baskets, either "clear of wires " or anywhere else, and so strike a blow at a harmful device,