OH, IMMORALITY!

Timaru Herald, Volume XCVIII, Issue 18029, 18 January 1923, Page 6

OH, IMMORALITY!

To tho Editor of the “Timaru Herald. Sir —There arei very many estimable people who look hack upon the recent carnival with feelings of unalloyed pleasure. They would wdlingly g through all those pleasurable thrills they experienced in participating m the “chance” of the chocolate wheel, or the high hopes of fortune dangled m front of them at the Surprise Packet stall—£3o first prize, and very many are gratified at the “success ot tlie Ca There are those who are doubtful of this method of raising money. 1° them it was a miniature Monte Carlo. Mo . Carlo, only without the supreme thnll and intense pleasure of VfcSv Such sensations as once tastedof, draw men and women like moths to a candle. Thero are parents and teachers u h are keenly solicitous for, end gmo trnio aid streitl. to, Ito finite moral clSSte, who’view ’ with reusuLrable niisgmnss . ' “ cs gambling as accompanied BfrK cirnWai. Tfioy « "?£re“,™“Ls: the ?o d E'” tllin s-i- Vi* “ino the end justifies the means Hmt sure, lv is an immoral principle. Vo harm if for a good cause! There is no question of tho goodness of the object in this case Some think that Vt bo for a church, or some chanty it can bo excused. Shall we act man immoral principle that good may come, and surely “gambling” is unmoral. That tho State legalises tho totalisator does not mako it right. I have lived in a British colony where sweepstakes were legalised and where the evil became rampant. Tho head of one establishment finding, the young peopled omnloved becoming permeated by tne cramhling spirit, made such an impassioned speech in tho Parliament of which he was a member, that an apathetio Premier and House were awakened to tho evil and a Bill was brought in by tho Government abohslUng organised lotteries. Who knows but that tho carnival shall proyo to be the Great Divide that has given a tendency and direction to some young lives that shall result in a downward course instead of upward? Magistrates, the pulpit, and the Press are, or should be,

tho custodians of public morals. That tho Magistrate! was too lenient is tho viciv of some who take a serious view of tho case. That there should bo leading citizens who would go ahead with_ a scheme knowing it to bo illegal, is not very creditable. The question of how to inspiro high moral ideals and elevate the tono of a community, is difficult and delicato as it is important. It is immensely easier to lower than to elevate. .Does this recent carnival represent a. slump in ideals rather than an elovation? Those responsible now want to be exonerated. No whitewashing will wash white. No petition to tho .Premier will avail. It once the door is opened to that kind of thing, the law becomes a farce. There is good roason behind this law. .Let those who erred with tho best intentions, drop tho matter and learn tho lesson. There aro better ways of raising all the money needed.—T am, etc., J. S. YOUNG.