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Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 187, 17 November 1910, Page 4

UNEXPECTED WEALTH. The news that a New Zealand tradesman lias by a stroke of luck won £SOOO in a racing sweep, is an indication that the strenuous effort to put down speculation in New Zealand has not been successful. Few men exist who if they were quite sure that the investment ot £1 with a Tasmanian firm would bring them a rich prize would resist the temptation to commit "the sin of gambling." New Zealand at the moment is engaged in a campaign against what its leaders allege is an evil, and although some avenues will be closed to the speculator if the new Gaming Bill becomes law, no way has yet been devised to prevent New Zealanders using the post office to further their schemes for the increase of their wealth. It would probably surprise the ordinary man to know the vast extent of the money-order business between New Zealand and Tasmania. But the moral phase is at the moment less interesting than the mere monetary one. There is an old saying, "easy come, easy go," and the history of racing speculation if written by a man conversant with it would tell innumerable stories of intensely human interest. For instance, one year an Adelaide policeman drew the "big money." A messenger brought him the news while he was on beat in King William Street. He read the message and fell dead. The shock was too great for a weak heart. On another occasion a hotelkeeper was the lucky one. On receipt of the news he gave his house over to his customers, with what result, one may imagine. A few years ago a New Zealand" dentist was a winner of a big Australian sweep. He alleged that he was sorry to have won £SOOO, for be was deluged witli correspondence from all and sundry desiring to share his luck. He was offered a variety of properties, all of which were the most valuable speculations ever heard of; charitable institutions wanted a dividend; poverty stricken letter writers gave reasons why he should keep them, and he ultimately left New Zealand until his fame became dimmed by the passage of other events. The people of all nations gamble, and the luck varies. There is a story of a German who, having paid his few shillings into the State lottery, died of'starvation as the news arrived that he had won a fortune. And there is a curious story, ton, of how a French peasant who for the speculation of five francs gained 10,001) francs. He, curiously enough, used his new wealth to buy 'education, ultimately becoming a clergyman. The knotty question for those who seek to. reform human nature is. "Can we eliminate the instinct in men of all nations for obtaining much for little?"