BETTING AND GAMBLING.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume XLIX, Issue 12631, 19 October 1905, Page 7

BETTING AND GAMBLING.

DANGER TO NATIONAL LIFE

WOMEN WHO GAMBLE

modern graze for bridge. >tsie Right Rev. Dr. Ncligan, Bishop of Auckland.) course of his charge delivered meeting of the Diocesan Synod at on Friday last, the Anglican of Auckland (Dr Neligan) reat some length to the question of and gambling. He said: — aim not dealing with individuals; I dealing with principles. I am judgno man. I know men who are in 'habit of betting, and who see no in it; men who are honourable higih-mindecl; men who probably not thought of the matter in the of it being dangerous and leading at all. By his own conscience .must stand or fall. The office of is Divine, not human. Again, I regard the eighth commandment prohibition against this sin. I labelling men as thieves who not. Ido regard the tenth co<m■■■ndment as that which prohibits gamTherefore, I have no heroic meaHHvos to propose in the way of bringabout the millennium through the of the Legislature. A moral evil only be corrected by moral methods, limits of legislation are reached, in moral, when the Legislature used every effort possible to make arid difficult for moral to nourish. To produce such inana difficulty we have Hai' right <to demand of the LegislaFurther, it is not true to count man who attends a race meeting rogue arid a vagabond; nor every j who " plays whist for penny points" ' gambler. It is true to say that, the gigantic evil that gamis to-day—its growth, its hurt to honour, truth, its murder of good fellow the keen sportsman, inevitable moral and spiritual ruin ■■■it it brings in its train —considering facts, it is true to say that a is both a better Christian and a patriot if, for the sake of his his neighbour, and his country, he and resolutely, by word and discountenances betting and gamSPIRIT OF VENTURE. conditions of life in any new arc of such a nature as to foster spirit. The pioneer dn New Zealand or elsewhere a life wherein risk plays a prominent part. The manufaoturor the merchant, or the professional who prosecutes his calling in a new likewise yields largely to the of venture. Training, skill, knowhealth, perseverance, capacity for and all such-like things come in the issue of success or failure is ; but the point I am emphasising from the nature of the case work sorts in a new country is coloured i-"isk, is undertaken as venture. These make for health in a nation in ways. But, for want ol wise reand guidance, tho spirit'; of may be degraded i& a nation individual. The degradation, as takes the form of substituting a and vitiating" spirit. Tnat is gambling. So far as the spirit venture is' pure, it is good; it beto man as man. In this centenary of Trafalgar we may aptly use for Nelson's famous remark on morning of his victory, " A peerage Westminster Abbey for me to-day." spirit of venture is beneficial' to ; it is legitimately and necesexorcised in things spiritual, naooanmercial. Its misuse leads to the sin of covetousness, peirthe most soul-destroying sin a man commit against his God, his neighand himself. * WHAT IS GAMBLING? is an exceedingly difficult questo answer, for it lies wholly within realm of morals. The definition of in morals is 'hard to express in We might say that gambling is misuse, or prostitution, or dsgradaof the spirit of venture. Tiie fayanswer mad© by t<h© man who gambles is: " t give the other a return for his money. We each the same opportunity.. We pay our pleasure or mix pain." This is ; it sounds well-; but it')is not strong- posil.ion; there ai"e falunderlying the argument. A \sort. of argument ussd to be adin favour of duelling, for it was that if you gave a man liberty to you, you were at liberty to shopt Englisß common sense, however,, the fallacy ani stepped 'dueliIt is not a.true 'estimate'of life balance it by the'-sfvisations of pleasor pain.; neither of thepo emotions be the ultimate test between right wrong. Economics and morals alike permit a man to pledge his .judgagainst another man's judgment enterprise wherein skill, reflecthought aire required. .Neither nor morals permit a man to his knowledge m any enterprise the opportunities of gaining equal are debarred to the other Neither economics nor morals can the act of a man who risks all what is called Luck or Chance. it is foolish.. Morally worship of Luck^or Chance is. full of pea"il, and what .is morally wrong never be economically right.. indsed, mixet offend the solaw, must contradict the principle the brotherhood <c£ man, must run to all that iqakes Democracy thing worth having. It invist thus because essentially it makes the to undiluted sslfi&lhmess. » ■■most abominable machine ever invented." Spencer and Dr Martineau, Ej o tinkers of wholly opposite religions of view, condemn gambling as per se, a. violation of the social B^Byy.."' Pagan governments of old, not with the religious oi- moral of the question, as -,ye understand "recognised the social offence, and accordingly. It has, apparbeen reserved for the most demopart of the British Empire, New to exhibit to the world a deGoverament legalising, and rerevenue fr-om, tlie most abominmachine that ever was invented turning out citizens who care more selfishness than for socialism. The existence to-day of the totalisator democratic country is about as a" contradiction of true democof genuine socialism, as one could find. The appeal pf Democracy Et a grand app&al; it is the appeal to brot'hea-'hood of man. That appeal on " the central fact in the of the world," tilie Incarnation. H^Ve 'are one in Christ Jesus" is the proclamation of that fact. is socialism, democracy, brotherIndustry and honest labour are from a man because of the ■Wnmon good, because it helps the ■otberbockl. Gambling w an offence socialism, a contradictian ot deBm^nacv a sin against the -brotherhood. mT GAMBLING AND SPORT. EV4eam sport, in its varied forms, is a ■Song solvent of social banners; sport social not individual; it produces ■endliness and kindly feeling and unAs soon as gambling gets B»f> snort it kills the social power of BMCh- I think I may claim to speak ■unthe standpoint of as keen a sportsX i any man here. From that point ■Wview 1 unhesitatingly assert that as X „ ft man finds it necessary to ■ ,■ a 'bit on," .iust "to make the B£ interesting, and help you to play H'v^best"—as men put it—then the WU lS<anived «t the parting of the ■?. and he must decide which road ■ ySeans to take. If "love of gain,' Hures him bo stari* on a course which

will eventually rob him of the right to call himself a sportsman. When lie ceases to be a sportsman, he ceases to bo true to the social law, he becomes untrue to the brotherhood. THE CRAZE FOR BRIDGE. •The modem craze for playing bridges for money in private houses is an offence against the social law. Hospitality in its essence implies that between hcot and guest there shall exist a bond of kindly feeling, even if not of actual friendship. To invite a guest to your •house, or to go as a guest to a house principally in order to gain something by tilie other's loss, Ls anti-social, and, sooner oa* later must lead to the severance of that mutual respect which is an ■essential of friendly intercourse. Further, chivalry is a necessity for the social relationships which ought to exist between men and women. I defy any man to entertain high and chivalrous sentiments towards any woman with whom he habitually gambles. Men aro to blame, sometimes, for thoughtkesly encouraging the gambling spirit in women. Women, sometimes, yield to the temptation equally thoughtlessly. The want of thought and reflection is terribly piteous. I'her© are few, if any, more distressingly unwomanly sights in the ■world than that of the woman gambler. THE MORAL ASPECT.

In dealing with the breaches of the economic amd social laws it has been inevitable that the breach of the moral law has been touched upon. The nioral lav/ is the basis upon which both the economic and social laws stand. The stability of commerce and of society depends on the moral character of the ■individual, and so of the nation. The moral basis for character in its simplest and ultimata forms lies in understanding, and trying to live up to it, the meaning of the first and tenth commandments. You may take St. Peter as interpreting them in the phrases "Fear God,'; "Love the Brotherhood." For tllie Christian man or woman the teaching of the Redeemer of man is so plain that no sophistry can escape it: " Thou shalt love the Lord thy God;" " Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself;" " On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." Gambling breaks both these commandments; it prevents a man from trusting in the love of his Heavenly Father; it makes a man love himself at the cost of his neighbour. It does all this because it is the sin of covetousness. The social lavv is a statement of human relationships; those relationships can have no enduring, imperative force apart- from morals; the brotherhood of man is a. hollow sham apart from the Fatherhood of God; covetousness denies the Fatherhood of God.

THE POSITION IN NEW ZEALAND

So far I 'have been, almost entirely, dealing with the matter m hand from a general point of view. Now, it is necessary for us to the ur- , gency of the position in our own country. I have alluded once to the totalisator. Let me give you some facts which will justify that allusion. The number of permits to use the totalisator is fixed by statute at 156, and mi twelve months—August, 1904, to July, 1905— 284 days' racing were held in the colony. Ten per cent, is deducted from all moneys going through flic totalisator, of which li per cent, goes to the Government. T'h3 total sum put through the .totalisator in New Zealand for the period named amounted to £1,391,----422. A very considerable additional sum would be handled fjy bookmakers laying totalisator odds. The following is a return of ihe money invested on the totalisator at the principal race meetings held at Ellerslie only during the past five treasons: — £ 1900-1901 153,399 1901-1902 164,714 1902-1903 156,414 1903-1904 156,593 1904-1805 151,117 £782,237 The amount of money that passed through the totalisator for the year I have quoted is £10,000 greater till an tlhe value of the export butter trade' of the colony for 1904-~£1,38G > 460. The Government received from the totalisatoi, for the year quoted, a sum of ; over £20,000. Furthermore, the Government offers facilities for betting and gambling through tlio Post Office. Practically every racecourse of note in the colony has the telegraph; money can bo seat on to the course for "investment", by%-means of the Government telegraph office, the-homes of the colony are brough;. into direct and immediate connection with the totalisator through the Government telegraph office. I am informed that the Government .telegraph office is so keen on getting business in this method that "on one racecourse in the North Island, when it was deemed inadvisable (for certain club treasons) to have a wire, arrangements were made by the Department to connect with a building in close proximity." A friend who has. officially, to attend almost ever.y race meeting within, the neighbourhood ot Auckland, tells me that " the number of women who go tQ race meetings for really no other reason than to bet cm the totalisator is ever increasing." The ' facb that the machine is legalised is the cause of this. THE BOOKMAKER. The machine (has not at all suppressed the bookmaker, nor has it wholly stoppad the publication of betting odds in the newspapers. For myself, I would far sooner see the bookmaker plying his trade openly (Ik, has to be honest), and the atendant barrior put to p*->p o because of " what people would think if tbvy saw us making bets with a book-n-aker. ' than the osisfcuig state of n!fairs. A bookmaker >'.s reported in the "Houald" of July 7, 1905, as plainly asserting that racing in New Zealand lives on the profits arising from the total isatoir. GETTING INSTEAD OF GIVING. The religious 'world is not free from yielding to its influence,- too often is it thought that God's work can only be provided for at the price of entertaining the people; too often is the standard of Christian work lowered by encouraging people to think of getting instead of giving when money is wanted, and so almsgiving as a means of grace is hardly thought of by many people; too often does an unholy competition for collections 'between Christian bodies emphasise the scandal of a divided Christendom ; too often is tihe ""religious world" forgetful of the Aptostolic injunction to ".abstain from all appearance of evil." For maiiy months past I have been making inquiries into this matter within the area of this diocese. Employers j and employees alike have given me in- ' formation. From the facts placed at my disposal I <im clear that, unless we, as & colony, pull ourselves together, the sin of cov-atousness will kill our na- } tional life; and the first step necessary to be taken is: we, churchmen and ohuroJiTvomen, must see to it that our own hands are clean. WHAT CAN WE DO? My brethren of tlhe clergy, your and my duty is to teach our people their duty towards God and their duty towards their neighbour, at any cost.' We are not to say to a man who attends race meetings, or who plays whist "with a trifle on the rubber," that he is a thief or a gambler. We are to say there is a "sin that sticks clogp " between buying and selling, between emulation and envy, between sport and love of gain; that sin is covetousne&s; and you must be very watchful and unceasingly on your guard lest that sin should lead you to forget God and hurt your fellow-man. My 'brethren of the laity, to you I appeal to discharge your priesthood am this matter. No money, in any department of life, gained through, winking at "the sin that sticks close

between" is worth 'having; if it doeiS not temporarily ruin you it will and must ruin your children. Be sportsmen ; play the game instead or counting the money; because you are sportsmon fight for c.eaniLness at your race meetings, your golf matches, your billiards, jind your (rubber. Keep your business methods moral. Keep yourselves and your womenfolk and your children from the ■accursed sin of Achan. Gentlemen of the clergy and laity, wilfully and knowingly to cultivate coveitousness and to :be <a communicant is perilously near attempting the impossible. I cars, not what the difficulties wf a diocese, a par'rsh, a business concern, or any other organisation may be, I know as a fact that covetousne&s will only increase them, but I know equally as a fact that to believe, and act on the belief, in the Fatherhood of God will diminish them. No Church, no' nation, iiq commerce can last on ill-gotten money.