GAMBLING AND BETTING.

Otago Witness, Issue 1932, 30 November 1888, Page 26

GAMBLING AND BETTING.

(The Field.)

Parochial clergy have such innumerable opportunities of witnessing destitution in its direst form, and of becoming acquainted with the cause of it in individual instances, that no surprise need be felt at gambling: and betting forming one of the subjects for discussion at the Church Congress. The typical gambler, of course, belongs to what Sir Francis Head called " that variegated region known as the Turf," and the bulk of Mr Madan's argument was directed against racing. " Had not the time come," he asked, " when they as Churchmen should enter the lists against racing, as being the enemy of all that was true and honest and just and pure?" The protest, however, might have been all the more thought of had the condemnation been less sweeping. Mr Madan is no doubt oorrect in stating that gambling and betting pervade all classes from the highest to the lowest; but would not the same assertion have been true very many years ago ? The author of a quaint yet thoughtful little book written in the time of Queen Anne gives a very common -sense Reason for the Prevalence of Gambling,

"It is not," he says, "easily to be accounted for that many persons of good endowments and of plentiful estates have been so eager, not to say furious, in their gaming and betting. I cannot attribute it to a principle of mere avarice in many, though in most I fear it is so, but rather think the contingency of winning and losing, and the expectation therefrom, are diverting. I conceive there would be no pleasure, properly so-called, if a man were sure to win always. It's the reconciling uncertainty to our desires that creates the satisfaction." This is perhaps as correct an analysis as was ever penned, though, of course, its sentiments" would not hold good in the case of a man who merely betted in the hope of amassing money, caring nothing for the excitement to which the betting gave rise. It is only the man who is a gambler at heart — a sporting gambler, if one may use the term — who would assent to the doctrine that next to the pleasure of winning comes the pleasure of losing. It must be confessed, however, that the racecourse shows us little that is ennobling— though that is not altogether the fault of racing. Those whose voices rise loudest in the general Babel, those who dispense with h's, twist " Isosceles " into " Icicles," and find in the proper pronunciation of Unique and Übique an insuperable difficulty, are not usually of the educated classes, nor are the most demonstrative of their clients— those who push their way violently through the crowded inclosure. The racecourse rough is not a loveable creature, certainly ; but it may be doubted whether, owing to his origin, he would become more refined under the influence of other amusements. Lord Beaconsfield may or may not have spoken truthfully when he described horse racing as " a vast engine of national demoralisation"; but there is at least something to be said on the other side. To stop gambling in all forms would indeed be a gigantic undertaking, and, if carried out, would not improbably end in the stagnation of commerce and enterprise. When gas and the electric telegraph were first invented, the persons who took shares in the companies were to a certain extent gamblers — that is to say, they backed their judgment against the chance of non-success.

Every Investor is a Gambler, and, when Mr Banner Oakley's famous bank came to grief, it was discovered that a large number of his dupes were maiden ladies and clergymen. In our own opinion the facilities now afforded for gambling in stocks are 10 times more hurtful to society than all the race meetings put together. Persons are invited to send a small sum as " cover," which commands a certain amount of stock. Should it rise, well and good ; if it falls, the cover is lost and the bargain is at an end. We may be wrong, but this appears to us to be nothing more nor less than bookmaking, and one fine day the revelations in a court of law may throw some light on the matter, by showing in how many cases stock was legitimately bought and sold, and in how many cases the person to whom the cover was sent was virtually a bookmaker, paying and receiving like any ordinary member of the Ring, without troubling the Stock Exchange at all. In "practice it is, of course, easy to discriminate between gambling and investing—to draw a line between putting one's money in some safe security, there to remain at interest till necessity arises for its withdrawal, and dabbling in stocks with the intention of taking advantage of the slightest fluctuation of the market. If, however, gambling in all forms is to be stopped by legislative means, the framers of proposed statutes will have no slight difficulty in defining where gambling begins or ends. If it be immoral to play at cards for a money stake, or to hazard a small sum on a horse race, a Rothschild or a Baring would be doing wrong in playing at halfpenny Nap, or in backing a Derby candidate at 3 to 1 in shillings. In the case of a labourer, however, these sums mi.2;ht represent a material portion of a week's earnings. The Dean of Rochester, who averred that he desired to stop roguery and not racing, appealed "to tne highest men in the land to set the ex-

ample to the clergy to denounce gamblingi to the press to cease publishing tips> odds> and nocturnal scratchings, and to the men and women of England not to give their presence to race meetings." We unhesitatingly agree that the majority of the, betting that takes place were better left alone; but so far as the publication of betting, scratchings — whether nocturnal or otherwise — and training reports are concerned, it must net be forgotten that the dissemination of this intelligence cuts two ways. If to some people it acts as an inducement to bet— we do not think that it often does so— it is at the same time

A Safeguard to tlte Backer. . as enabling bim. to see, if he must bet, what is the market price of the horse he proposes to back, and whether he is doing "good work," or is restricted to " walking exercise" merely. " Dead horses " are not so common now as they once were. In the eyes of some the sight of a number of persons buying the sporting papers may be a shocking one ; but is it any worse than seeing another section buying up all the journals dealing with financial matters 1 Cockburn's Act was productive of great benefit, because it removed a great temptation from the path of those who had no business to bet at all — yet, had the framing of it been postponed till to-day, it would unquestionably have included some other institutions unconnected with the Turf ; because, as a contemporary pointed out recently, " it would be monstrously unfair to organise a crusade against only one department of speculation, and that by no means the greatest." The betting houses which Parliament has closed were as bad in their way as the so-called clubs, upon which the police make periodical and praiseworthy raids ; and it will be within the recollection of our readers that, after proceedings were taken against those concerned in the management of a gambling club in the neighbourhood of Newington Butts, many a poor woman related the misery that institution had caused in her little home. The old author from whom we have already quoted gave it as his opinion -that "the generality of people are very inclinable to gaming and recreations, especially at some stated times in Hie year, and some are unwarily drawn in and imposed upon by cheaters," This love of " speculation is ingrained in the majority of Englishmen, and finds its outlet at one time in betting, at another by embarking in some commercial enterprise. With many of the sentiments of the speakers at the Congress we are in accord, as everyone must be who has seen the ruin brought about by gambling ; but, however laudable the object, a principle of justice must be maintained, and how to maintain it is a problem which Mr Madan did not feel himself equal to answering ; nor do we think that anyone else will achieve greater success. There are indisputable evils attending betting and speculation of all kinds ; but they are aggravated by the ' doings of ignorant plungers, and the insane belief of others that they can make money out of stock when those brought up to the business stand aloof. In conclusion, it is worth while to refer to an article published in The Times more than four years ago. Speaking of the Park Club case, the article in question said :—" If the Park Club is to be put down, what institution is to be safe ? The Stock Exchange is the greatest gambling place in the country. A bull or a bear account is a bet, and it is nothing else. Apart from its money results it has no interest, and there is not even a pretence that it has."