BISHOP’S BETTING DAYS.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLIX, Issue 3786, 1 May 1928, Page 1

BISHOP’S BETTING DAYS.

AN ATTACK ON GAMBLING

CHURCH’S “DIRTY” RAFFLES

“I Yvas in the game when I was at Oxford, so I speak from experience,” said Dr. Sterling Woollcombe, Bishop of Wfhitby, addressing a men’s meeting on the question of gambling (says the “Auckland Herald” correspondent). “I Yvas lucky and became extremely interested. My last bet Yvas ten shillings on a five to one Yvinner of the Chester Cup, yet my friend and I resolved after that race never to bet again, not because yvc had lost —Yve had yvou a considerable sum —but because we Yvere finding out that Yvhen betting enters into you it saps your higher interests. I believe it Yvould have driven me to hell if I had gone on with it. “If there is one thing more than another Yvhich makes men slack at Yvork it is this damnable business. If Yve are not going to take an interest in our jobs Yve shall never be able to beat the foreigner!

There is an infernal lot of cant talked by men Yvho say they do not mind Yvhqther they Yvin or lose at cards, but must have a stake- to add excitement. I ahvays Yvonder Yvhether such a man is a knave or a fool. Of course, the real excitement in all gambling is the joy of putting somebody else’s money into your oYvn pocket.” The bishop attacked that practice of holding raffles at church bazaars. “The church,” he said, “must get clear of this dirty business if it is to set an example to the nation.”