is 3 v fen = od it DUKE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY DURHAM,N.C. - SIX MODERN DEVILS Six Modern Devils By WILBUR R. KEESEY, Pu. Fi: v 138791 CINCINNATI! JENNINGS AND GRAHAM New York: EATON AND MAINS Avy Copyright, 1909, Jennings & Gr Bud. 5. . a, ee SK .Orpor LS O15 S K2bS Ose Father ant Mother This Book is Dedicated in Loving Gratitude and Filial Affection. 138791 CONTENTS oD FoREWORD,~ - - - Bap LITERATURE, - Tue Liquor TRAFFIC, - THE GaMBLING Hasirt, TuHE Gossip Evin, - - THE PLEASURE PROBLEM, Tur GREED FoR GOLD, - EEF THe WorRLD—BETTER oR WorsE? 138 FOREWORD HE only apology offered by the p author of this little volume is ‘the universal prevalence of the evils at which it strikes. The topics were originally treated by the author in his own pulpit on consecutive Sunday evenings. They provoked such interest that the capacity of the church was taxed by the congregations. This led to the suggestion that they be pub- lished in their present form with the view of extending their influence and usefulness. These sermons are pub- lished almost precisely as they were preached, and are now sent forth on their larger mission. The author has gleaned from every possible field for the thoughts and facts herein presented. But the material and spirit were so inwrought into the preach- er’s own mind as to make it impossible 9 FOREWORD always to discriminate. But this is of small moment when our supreme aim is to exercise the largest possible influence for righteousness. With this brief introduction the author submits the contents of this volume, praying that it may prove helpful to all who meditate upon it. W. BR. K. 10 SIX MODERN DEVILS BAD LITERATURE ** Till I come, give heed to reading.”’ —First Timothy 4: 13. N treating the sins of society, I place bad literature first because the things we read very largely influ- ence our lives. There is a thousand-fold more reason for Paul’s injunction to-day than ever before. It admits of a double construc- tion. We are to ‘‘give heed to reading’’ by availing ourselves of the ever-increas- ing opportunities of our age; and also by exercising a wise discrimination in the selection of our reading matter. These minds of ours are fashioned for development; and this development comes largely through reading. It has been an oft disputed question as to whether one learns more from books or from observation. There is much to be said on either side. But certain it is, 13 SIX MODERN DEVILS that our reading wonderfully helps us to observe. President Barker said: ‘“‘Teach me to read, and I can do the rest. I will then have a key to every door of learning.’’ Not only does our reading develop the mind, but it exercises a strong influence upon our character. Our reading con- trols our thinking; and our thinking makes us what we are. Hence this matter touches the very heart of our modern life. Next to the society in which we move, what we read forms the east of our minds, fixes our principles, and determines our habits. It is needless for me to remind you that ours is a distinctively reading age. The newspaper has become a daily ne- cessity. No village of any respectable size is now complete without its local press. Our magazines are of almost as ereat variety as our breakfast foods. There are books of every description upon every subject. Never was there a time when it could be so truthfully said, ‘‘Of the making of many books there is no end.’’ Not only have we this 14 BAD LITERATURE limitless supply of reading matter, but we have also improved facilities for using it. Every city has its amply equipped public library, or reading room, thanks to Mr. Carnegie or some local philanthropist. Thus the oppor- tunity for general reading is brought within the reach of the poorest of our people. This makes it possible for the boy or girl of limited education to ac- quire a good, practical, working knowl- edge of affairs. Hence the average lay- man of to-day has a larger knowledge of things professional than ever before. No one can ever estimate the great influence of books and papers upon the people. They set our moral and spir- itual standards, mold our opinions, and give direction to our sympathies. This is especially true of young people. Many of our boys and girls are omniy- orous readers. They draw more largely upon the public library than any other class. Do you realize what this means? It may mean weal or woe for the future. There is, however, more probability of evil here than good. Let us remember 15 SIX MODERN DEVILS that it is just as dangerous to read every book and periodical that comes under our notice as to make friends with every stranger we meet. Frederic Harrison tells us there are now over three million volumes in our libraries, and that every few years the press issues enough new ones to make a pyramid equal in size to St. Paul’s Cathedral. He also raises the question whether or not the printing press may be a mixed blessing. Do you not see the bearing of all this upon to-morrow? The style of litera- ture we learn to like when young is the style we are apt to like always. If we cultivate a taste for that which promotes real culture, we will always crave it. But if we acquire a senseless, sensational habit of reading, it will be difficult for us in after years to break away from it. We trifle with this matter at our peril. Thus the magnitude of our literary bless- ings increases our difficulty of discrimi- nation. - That there is much bad literature in circulation, no one will deny. It comes from the press by the ton. It is cireu- 16 BAD LITERATURE lated widely and rapidly. And many people read it with a relish. We are told on good authority that the circula- tion of bad literature is increasing at an alarming rate. And surely, if we keep our eyes and ears open, we will not be inclined to dispute the statement. We see evidences upon every railway train, every news-stand and bookstore, and even some of our public libraries have not escaped the infection of this moral disease. Now, there are various kinds of bad literature. There is the grossly immoral. This sort is manufactured and circulated in secret ways. A gentleman who has given special attention to this kind of criminality says, that in New York City there are no less than two thousand per- sons who are directly engaged in the production of immoral books and _ pic- tures. Other large cities support similar disreputable establishments. Occasion- ally the authorities ferret out these places, seize the plates and machinery, and place the proprietors under arrest. Often these attempts to destroy this 2 | WG SIX MODERN DEVILS traffic are vigorous; but they are only partially successful, for these men are cunning, persistent, and unscrupulous, and are soon back in their old haunts and employment. This kind of litera- ture is usually circulated under cover through the mail and express companies. Names of young people are secured and sample copies are sent. Large and lib- eral rewards are offered for securing subscribers. Thus these vile publica- tions find their way into refined Chris- tian homes, where seeds are sown which produce a swift and terrible harvest. When I think of the blight and ruin, I wonder why we do not rise up in right- eous wrath and cast the abomination out. The great battleground for righteous- ness is among the youth. It is toward this field that men, cunning and devilish, have turned with all the aid of modern invention in printing and photography, to sow the seeds of an evil harvest. The New York Society for the Suppression of Vice on one occasion seized and de- stroyed a large quantity of salacious lit- erature, obscene pictures, and the like. 18 BAD LITERATURE The list contains such items as 904,440 Ibs. of obscene pictures and _ photo- graphs; 9,387 lbs. of negative plates for making obscene photographs; 465 en- graved steel and copper plates; 1,033 woodcuts and electroplates ; 28,050 stere- otype plates for printing books; 58 litho- graphic stones; and 1,659,941 lbs. of cir- culars, catalogues, salacious songs and poems. Surely the work of such so- cieties should receive our hearty sup- port. The man who would poison young minds with this vile stuff is equally as bad as he who poisons the body, and he deserves no better fate. Judge Gross- cup, of Chicago, sentencing a number of men for this crime, said: ‘‘ You men are moral vipers. Your crime is only second to that of murder. I would rather a rattlesnake should crawl into bed with my children than that your literature should fall into their hands.’’ Then we have the flashy, sensational novel. Once it was bound in yellow paper. Notso now. It is often put out in conventional binding, to find a place upon the shelves of reputable book- 19 SIX MODERN DEVILS stores. But the most popular form is the cheap pamphlet. Millions of these are scattered broadcast over the land. The plot of the story is usually laid in the shady quarters of a great city, on board a merchantman, or on the West- ern plains. Every detail is unnatural, every situation extravagant. Its stock in trade is betrayal, revenge, and mur- der. The whole production is coarse and revolting. Now, the most generous patrons of this sensational trash are the boys. Not only the boys in the slums, not only the boys of neglected, Christless homes; but also the boys from respectable, Christian homes. Many a parent would be paralyzed with fear if they should dis- cover what their boys are reading. In the city of Boston a dozen boys were called up in the criminal court to plead to the charges of larceny and burglary. They nearly all belonged to respectable homes, and all clung to their nickel novels in court. As they were called up to the bar to plead, they would hastily thrust these tattered and well-thumbed 20 BAD LITERATURE books into their pockets. Every boy had a ‘‘blood and thunder’’ novel in his pocket, which was doubtless the inspira- tion of his crime. Thus these flashy, trashy novels are ruining our boys by thousands, and their publication should be made a penitentiary offense. We also have that large class of un- true books—books which give untrue views of life. They create an artificial world whose inhabitants are angels and furies. Its chief occupation intrigue and love-making. Dishonor and unfaithful- ness are made to seem only the least bit wrong. Villains and their villainy are apologized for so eloquently as to al- most transform them. Now, the most devoted readers of this style of literature are young women. Many of our girls derive their impres- sions of the world and of human life from these highly colored and false pic- tures. These books abound in what is known as ‘‘realism.’? That is, a por- trayal of life as it is. It is indeed sig- nificant that always the dark, low, vicious side of life is presented. If we 21 SIX MODERN DEVILS must have ‘‘realism,’’ let us have it all; the bright side, as well as the dark side of life; the high and virtuous as well as the low and vicious. If there are depths of sin to which men may fall, there are also infinite heights of righteousness to which they may rise. Aside from the loose and vague no- tions of morality which it inspires, this sort of literature causes many young women to enter upon married life with ideas so false and theories so absurd that nothing but disappointment and un- happiness can follow. Instead of the impossible, self-sacrificing heroes of their dreams, these young women awake to find themselves married only to men —common, ordinary men. It is not long before both parties to the disappointing union are seeking some means of escape. Hence domestic infelicity, social scandal, and the divorce court. It is highly prob- able that all other causes combined are not so prolific of divorce as the fact that a certain class of women are brought up on sentimental novels. Girls who have nothing to do but to read these disgust- 22 BAD LITERATURE ing tales are bound to complicate the social problems. Here, of course, legis- lation is impossible, and the evil must be overcome by a strong and vigorous campaign of education. Last, but by no means least, are the books which break down faith. It has become customary, when one wishes to popularize some fad, for him to weave it into a story and send it forth to the world. Hence we have our historical, industrial, political, and religious novels. Of these, the religious novel is the most subtle and dangerous. Here malignant attacks upon the Bible and religion are woven into fascinating chapters. Here sin is condoned and disreputable char- acters are glossed over. So clever are many of these books that they are read by sincere Christians. So ingeniously has the poison been disguised that its readers do not realize they are reading assaults upon their faith. But always such books leave feelings of dissatisfac- tion and unrest. Questions arise which never troubled the reader before: ‘‘Do not Churches make too much of doc- 23 STIX MODERN DEVILS trine and lay too little stress on beauti- ful living?’’ ‘‘Isn’t the atonement and conversion and the higher life altogether too mystical and of much less importance than our old-fashioned preachers would have us believe?’’ ‘‘Are not the moral characters of this book infinitely better than many who have professed to be saved in the orthodox way?’’ And so the poison of unbelief does its deadly work. A man thrust his hand into a hen’s nest, and he felt the prick of a pin. Soon the finger began to swell, then his arm, then his body. He had been bitten by a young rattlesnake, so small that its rattles had not yet de- veloped. This feebly illustrates the danger from novels of high literary merit, but which strike at the Christian’s faith. Between the leaves of such a book are serpents coiled—serpents more deadly than the most poisonous reptiles of the jungle. Much of to-day’s litera- ture pays honor to Christianity only to make it cover and hide its evil nature. It draws near with a kiss only that it might betray. * * * These things 24 BAD LITERATURE being true, it is better to know the pur- pose of a book before reading it. The Trishman’s rule for distinguishing be- tween mushrooms and toadstools is too expensive here. Now, all this pernicious literature must be shunned. Yea, more, it must be warred against. No invective is too strong; no measure is too severe. But what shall be the method of our war- fare? I answer, substitution. There is as much good literature as there is bad; and it is just as cheap and available. This we must put into the hands of our young people before they cultivate an appetite for the bad and vicious. Good literature must be presented so attractively and persist- ently, and yet so unobtrusively, that it will command attention. And when this is accomplished the day is won. When I go into a home [I instinctively look for the library or reading table. But alas, how few homes are thus equipped! Many young people are reading cheap, trashy story papers because their par- ents are too economical or too negligent 25 SIX MODERN DEVILS to provide good literature for the home. This lack of good home reading lies at the bottom of many other evils with which we have to contend. No public library or reading room can atone for this lack of good home reading. Well, if substitution is our method, what shall we substitute? What shall we read? My answer to this question must necessarily be merely suggestive. If I were to outline a course of reading, I would say, first of all, read history. Does any one complain that this is dry? Then he has never read history. No fiction was ever so strong, so romantic, or dramatic, so thrilling, or so fascinat- ing as the story of the rise and fall of nations. Read science. Does some one eall this dull? Why, the earth and the air overflow with wonder and interest. Read biography. No class of literature is more attractive or exerts a better in- fluence upon the reader. Here most people find their ideals. The life of Washington inspired Lincoln, and that of Lincoln has inspired thousands more. Read books of travel. Next to the pleas- 26 BAD LITERATURE ure and profit of a personal visit to dis- tant lands is that of seeing them through the eyes of a keen observer, who is able to describe in graphic style what he beholds. Don’t forget the poets. Every library should have a _ poet’s corner. Poetry should be read for the nobility and spirituality of its senti- ments. Yes, by all means, read some fiction. But let it be of the better type: In the selection of no class of books should greater caution be observed. In this field there are hundreds of stories full of information and _ inspiration. Who can fail to catch new views of duty from the pages of Hugo’s ‘‘Les Mis- erables?’’?’ Helen Hunt Jackson’s ‘‘Ra- mona’’ is a sermon. George Eliot’s ‘‘Romola’’ is almost above criticism. What can excel the pathos of ‘‘ Beside the Bonnie Brier Bush?’’ And how up- lifting such stories as ‘‘Sky Pilot’’ and **Black Rock!”’ In reading magazines, caution must be exercised. The magazine has become a large factor in our reading. But it ranges from the veriest trash of fiction 27 SIX MODERN DEVILS to the stately and valuable review. The best magazines are veritable mines of information and condensed literature. But the articles are only fragmentary, and should not supplant the reading of books. As to newspapers, they must be read to keep abreast of the times, but not exhaustively. There is a great temp- tation to waste time over a newspaper. Many people make a waste-basket of the mind, filling it with society gossip, lit- erary rubbish, and the details of crime. Thirty minutes a day is enough to de- vote to the daily paper. But apart from and above all other classes of literature is The Book—the Holy Bible. It is the one Book that leads forth the richest and deepest and sweetest things ina man’s nature. Read all other books—philosophy, poetry, his- tory, fiction; but if you would refine the judgment, wing the imagination, fertil- ize the reason, and attain unto the finest womanhood and sturdiest manhood, read this Book. Read it reverently, thought- fully, prayerfully. The Book Daniel Webster placed under his pillow when 28 BAD LITERATURE dying should be read by all while living. He who studiously follows this Book will not be very much in danger of going astray in his reading. THE LIQUOR TRAFFIC “Woe unto him that giveth his neighbor drink, that putteth thy bottle to him, and maketh him drunken also.’’—Habakkuk 2: 15. HE times in which we live are distinguished for their growing devotion to the causes of re- form and humanity. Men are asking of public institutions why they exist, and what they contribute to the public good; indeed, we are demanding some contribution of good as the price of existence. Hence there is coming to be less and less room in this same pro- gressive world for the new reforming spirit and the old drunkard factory. On the one hand towers a vast, firmly built, richly endowed iniquity for the de- bauching of mankind; on the other hand, there is the new religious and humani- tarian spirit pledged to making the 30 THE LIQUOR TRAFFIC world sweet and clean and right. You can readily see that these two opposing forces can not long exist together. Which will triumph? Does the saloon tend to improve the conditions of life? Does it reduce the burdens and increase the comforts of society? Does it make brighter homes, happier wives, better spread tables, fuller pocketbooks, sweeter morals, purer laws, and better government? Let him who can, answer in the affirmative. In- deed, every voice of reason, conscience, observation, experience, and good citi- zenship cries out, ‘‘No.’’ The liquor traffic is the mightiest foe that ever warred against society and religion. It is the very center of that horrible in- ferno that welters at the bottom of civ- ilized society. The liquor traffic is a gigantic thing, and we do well to recognize its power. The enormous proportions of this, the greatest of all the American trusts, are evident in the following facts: The beer- drinkers of the United States consume thirty-three and one-half millions of 31 SIX MODERN DEVILS barrels of beer every year. The capital invested in the manufacture of all kinds of liquors is three hundred million dol- lars. The wholesale value of the product each year is three hundred and twenty- seven million dollars. The internal rev- enue tax amounts to one hundred and twelve million dollars. The receipts for the State and local licenses are nearly twenty-five millions of dollars. The amount spent by the people annually — for liquor is more than one billion dol- lars. Including bar-tenders, there are about seven hundred thousand liquor dealers in our country. The wages paid to employees will reach thirty-six mil- lion dollars a year. Thus you see this traffic is a veritable Gibraltar of finance. It is not a political question, nor a social question, nor a moral question half so much as it is a commercial question. The saloon is in politics because it is in commerce. Its roots run down to the very bottom of our national business life. It is enor- mously profitable, building up colossal fortunes. Hence, it fights for its life 32 THE LIQUOR TRAFFIC and liberty with desperation. Add to the great wealth of this traffic its polit- ical power, its ability to frame party platforms and dictate party principles, and you get some conception of its mag- nitude. You see, this is no dress-parade affair we have on our hands. It is war—war to the knife, and the knife to the hilt. Here is a combination of dollars and deviltry which is well-nigh overwhelm- ing. Now I wish to present an indictment, containing five separate counts, against the American saloon. First of all, the saloon is the cause of a large percentage of disease. In- toxicants are an irritant poison in the stomach. Much has been said about alcohol as a food. There is no greater delusion. The best of authorities tell us that the stimulating action which alcohol appears to exert on the physical functions is only a paralytic action. This belief that alcohol gives strength to the weary is | particularly dangerous to that class of 3 33 SIX MODERN DEVILS people whose income is already insuffi- cient to procure subsistence, and who are misled by this error into spending a large part of their earnings for alcoholic drinks instead of purchasing wholesome food, which alone can give them strength for their work. A German chemist says: ‘‘T have proved with mathematical ac- curacy that the amount of nourishment contained in the flour you can take up on the point of a knife is more than that contained in eight quarts of the best Bavarian beer. * * * In short, in attempting to get food out of beer, a man has to strain one hundred and twenty gallons of swill through his dis- gusted stomach to catch one loaf of bread.’’ If this be true, then the alcohol- food notion is a vain delusion. Now, notice the relation of drink to disease. A few years ago the Toledo Blade made a searching investigation of the beer question, and presented the opinions of leading physicians. With- out exception these medical men declared that the drinking habit was especially fruitful in diseases of the liver and kid- 34 THE LIQUOR TRAFFIC neys, that it lowers the vital forces, making man susceptible to disease. One physician said that in his own practice and observation forty-nine out of fifty eases of Bright’s disease were cases of beer drinkers. The evidence gathered during this investigation was summed up in the following editorial: ‘‘The in- dictment they (the physicians) of one accord present against beer-drinking is simply terrible. The fearful devil-fish, erushing the fisherman in its long, wind- ing arms and sucking his life-blood from his mangled body, is not so frightful an assailant as this insidious enemy, which fastens itself upon its victim and daily becomes more and more the wretched man’s master, clogging up his liver, rot- ting his kidneys, decaying the heart and arteries, stupefying and starving the brain, choking the lungs and bronchia, loading the body down with dropsical fluids and unwholesome fat, fastening upon him rheumatism, erysipelas, and all manner of painful and disgusting diseases, and finally dragging him down to the grave at a time when other men 30 SIX MODERN DEVILS are in their prime of mental and bodily vigor. Every one of them bears testi- mony to the fact that no man ean drink beer without bad physical results—that it is an injury to any one who uses it in any quantity.’’ Side by side with this evidence of medical science let us place the testi- mony of life insurance companies. Mil- waukee is famous for its beer products. This beer is advertised as good for health and conducive to longevity. But Milwaukee is also the headquarters of the Northwestern Life Insurance Com- pany, established about fifty years ago. It is regarded as one of the strongest companies, wide-awake and shrewd in its business management. The greater part of the directors are wealthy business men of the city of Milwaukee. Yet in spite of the health-giving qualities of lager beer, this company will not grant a policy to a brewer or any of his em- ployees. And why? Are these directors ““temperance cranks?’’ No. They are hard-headed business men, and statistics show that the insurance business has 36 THE LIQUOR TRAFFIC been injured by the shortened lives of beer-drinkers. The British Institute of Actuaries made an investigation cover- ing a period of sixty-one years, and in- cluding an inquiry into the cases of one hundred and twenty-five thousand per- sons. They found total abstainers to be superior to all others throughout the en- tire working years of life; that is, from twenty to seventy years. These inter- esting facts were discovered: Between twenty and thirty years of age, the deaths among the drinkers was ten per cent more than among total abstainers; between thirty and forty, it was sixty- eight per cent more; between forty and fifty, it was seventy-four per cent more; between fifty and sixty, it was forty-two per cent more; and between sixty and seventy, it was nineteen per cent more. Thus you see that alcohol cuts off more men who are in the heydey of health than at any other period. What this means in the way of retarding the world’s progress you may estimate. I know that data relative to the effects of alcohol upon the human system are 37 SIX MODERN DEVILS common and may be more or less preju- diced. But here the conclusions are not tinctured by sentiment or bigotry. Hard cash considerations are these, and they are valuable as relative statistics. The final result of these investigations will doubtless be the issue of a new form of policy, offering a much smaller rate of premium to the total abstainer. Another remarkable fact has devel- oped from the insurance investigations in New York City. It has been found that the metropolitan Hebrew is, on the average, the most long-lived of all the varied classes of inhabitants, while the New York Irishman is beginning to rank the shortest-lived. An insurance author- ity states that the American Hebrew is at least a fifteen per cent better risk than any other type of citizen. And why? Because he abstains from the use of liquor. The second count in this indictment is that the saloon inspires immorality. It is the training school of profanity, vul- garity, and obscenity. It invariably has a gambling annex. It is frequently com- 38 THE LIQUOR TRAFFIC bined with a brothel; indeed, as twin cor- ruptors they stand or fall together. Concerning the social vices we have been too prudishly modest. At every public reference to them the refined and eultured have eried, ‘‘Hush! Hush!’’ until licentiousness has well-nigh under- mined our social life. The better classes are ignorant of this, because it is a malady that moves in silence and preys on its victims in the darkness of the night. It has no plain advertisements in the newspapers, posts no flaming pos- ters, is surrounded by no bands of music. Indeed, its secrecy is its security. It, therefore, becomes the duty of teachers and preachers to children and parents to lift the curtain of a false delicacy and expose this evil. Listen to the words of the wise man: ‘‘Say unto wisdom, Thou art my sister, and call understand- ing thy kinswoman: that they may keep thee from the strange woman, from the stranger that flattereth with her words. For at the window of my house I looked through my casement, and beheld among the simple ones; I discerned among the 39 SIX MODERN DEVILS youths a young man void of understand- ing, passing through the street near her corner; and he went the way to her house in the twilight, in the evening, in the black and dark of night; and, behold, there met him a woman with the attire of a harlot, and subtle of heart. * * * So she caught him, and kissed him, and with an impudent face said unto him: ‘T have peace offerings with me; this day I have paid my vows. Therefore come I forth to meet thee, diligently to seek thy face, and I have found thee. I have decked my bed with coverings of tap- estry, with carved works, with fine linen of Egypt. I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon. Come, let us take our fill of love until the morning.’ * * * With her fair speech she caus- eth him to yield, with the flattering of her lips she forced him. He goeth forth after her straightway, as an ox goeth to the slaughter, or as a fool to the cor- rection of the stocks; till a dart strike through his liver; as a bird hasteth to the snare, and knoweth not that it is for his life.’’ 40 THE LIQUOR TRAFFIC But you inquire, What has all this to do with the licensed liquor saloon? I answer, very much. It is the natural ef- fect of the goods sold in the saloon to excite and inflame every lust and pas- sion that degrades and brutalizes human- ity. Behind every brothel is the saloon. Behind every fallen woman is drink. You can not hurt the brothel without hurting the saloon. Some time ago the Wine and Spirit Gazette made this frank confession: The Phillips law, passed by the Legislature of Ohio, forbidding the sale of liquor in houses of ill-fame, went into effect on May 25th. The importers of champagne in this city are beginning to feel the loss of business in Ohio. Piper Heidsieck representatives claim that the enforcement of the law in the big cities of Ohio will cost them forty thousand dollars annually; Munn Com- pany representatives estimate their loss at thirty thousand; importers of Pomery See claim they will lose sixty thousand; and the other importers will suffer pro- portionate losses. The local brewers also feel the effects of the law, as many of the 41 SIX MODERN DEVILS houses in Cincinnati and Cleveland sold large quantities of beer.’’ Does this not sufficiently reveal the sensitive nerves of kinship between the liquor traffic and prostitution ? And what shall I say of the wine- rooms in vogue everywhere among sa- loons? These wine-rooms and ‘‘ladies’ entrance’’ are for the accommodation of women patrons, who are increasing in number every year. Bishop Leighton Coleman says there is an appalling growth of drunkenness among women. Mrs. John A. Logan says: ‘‘I do not like to admit that any woman ever in- dulged in such lamentable habits, but I must succumb to the indubitable evi- dence that is before us continually, and can only bow my head for very shame for my sex, and pray, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”’ Ordinances have been passed in many of our large cities prohibiting wine- rooms, but saloon men have opposed their enforcement, contending that wo- men have as much right to drink as men. This is indeed true. But this habit cul- 42 THE LIQUOR TRAFFIC tivates a taste for convivial companion- ship and a lowering of the moral stand- ing among women. Time was when no young man would dare to invite a young woman to accompany him to a beer gar- den or saloon, for it would have been considered an insult. But conditions have changed, and now saloons are pat- ronized by women both with and without escort. And what of our saloon-keepers as a class? They are of the lowest character. Of course, there are exceptions; and IL am sorry for these, as I am for every good man who goes in bad company. But as a class they are impure, profane, ir- religious, vulgar, and criminal; and their saloons are like them. Here one meets with the world’s filthiest characters, filthiest pictures, and filthiest conversa- tion. It is the stem about which clusters all the festering vices of the community. Speaking of the morals of the saloon, the following poem is quite suggestive: ** 4 bar to heaven, a door to hell; Whoever named it, named it well. A bar to manliness and wealth; A door to want and broken health. 43 SIX MODERN DEVILS A bar to honor, pride and fame; A door to sin and grief and shame. A bar to hope, a bar to prayer; A door to darkness and despair. A bar to honored, useful life ; A door to brawling, senseless strife. A bar to all that’s true and brave ; A door to every drunkard’s grave. A bar to joys that home imparts ; A door to tears and aching hearts. A bar to heaven, a door to hell; Whoever named it, named it well.’’ Another count in our indictment against the saloon is that it pauperizes labor. To settle the liquor question would be a long step toward settlement of the labor question. We are told that the saloon is a necessity. Let us see if this be true. Tf the more than a billion dollars annu- ally spent for liquor, and the greater part of it by laboring men, were to go next year for boots and shoes, clothing, food, books, magazines, pictures, and education, there would be such a revival of business as we have never seen. Over- production would be an impossibility, wages would advance, and every class of 44 THE LIQUOR TRAFFIC society would be benefited. Said Arch- bishop Ireland in addressing the Catho- lice people of America: ‘‘Compute in any city the sum of money spent by Irishmen in Irish saloons and you will be affrighted. In one Western city there are fifteen hundred saloons kept by Irishmen. Allow the average receipts of each saloon to be fifteen dollars a day, and you have an annual expenditure for liquor by the Irish of that city of eight million two hundred and twelve thousand five hundred dollars. Add to the value of the time lost by drink, of the wages unearned because men visit saloons, and twelve million dollars per annum is not too high a figure to represent the annual losses to the Irish of one city. This answers the question why we are poor. It is idle talk to advise the people to se- cure homes of their own, to leave the crowded cities, to gain by labor and econ- omy a competence for themselves and their families; we must lay the ax at the root of the evil, first teaching them to shun the saloon which is swallowing up their earnings.”’ 45 SIX MODERN DEVILS Mr. Joseph Medill, a distinguished journalist, made the following statement to a Congressional committee of labor and education: ‘‘I have rarely known a steady, sober, industrious man, who saved his surplus earnings and pru- dently invested them, but attained inde- pendence before old age; and I have never known a workman, no matter what his wages, who freely indulged his appe- tate for liquor that ever made headway. And the money thus thrown away on liquor by wage-workers in the last ten years would have provided each family a home free of rent, thereby emancipat- ing all of them from servitude to land- lords. If invested in railroad stocks and bonds, it would have transferred the ownership of every single mile of rail- way in the United States to the laboring classes who squander their wages on drink. The wage-workers can not sup- port in idleness three quarters of a mil- lion of saloon men and their families, and hope to prosper themselves.’’ This is a most significant statement. Doubtless nine-tenths, if not ninety- 46 THE LIQUOR TRAFFIC nine one-hundredths, of the actual desti- tution among the poor is to be traced directly or indirectly to habits of drink. It is not the drunkard himself who pays the heaviest penalty for his intemper- ance. It is too often the helpless wife and neglected children who bear the bur- den. There is scarcely a city or town from which all abject poverty would not practically disappear if the vice of drunkenness could be banished: The Poorhouse Commissioner of Hennepin County, Minnesota, says that eight out of every ten inmates are forced there through drink. The commissioner of the Minneapolis Work-house says that sev- enty-one per cent of the inmates are brought there by drink. * * * Thus you can readily see that no amount of legislation, and no power of trade unions or labor combinations, can be of any real help to the laborer who spends his money in the saloon. And every one of us who, by influence or vote, or by our neglect or indifference, helps to establish or maintain the liquor saloon in the com- munity, is thus contributing to the insti- 47 SIX MODERN DEVILS tution which robs and debauches the toilers of our land. Furthermore, the saloon breeds law- lessness and crime. And this by neces- sity, from the very conditions of its ex- istence. It is the natural nest for out- laws who resist the civilization of the twentieth century. It is the runway for criminals. The housewife knows where to set her trap for the mice. The hunter knows where to look for his game. And so the authorities of our cities know where to look for criminals. If a man were to commit some crime in New York and then escape to Chicago, the police of New York would immediately telegraph his description to the police of Chicago, with orders to arrest him. What places, think you, the Chicago police would watch for their game? Surely not the churches, schools, or libraries. Certainly it would be the saloons and their kindred institutions. And why? Because here is the natural runway for criminals. Why, the saloon is itself at heart an outlaw; it must be an outlaw in order to live. If the saloon-keeper should obey 48 THE LIQUOR TRAFFIC all the liquor laws, he would soon be com- pelled to close up his business. He must devise some means for reimbursing him- self for the large license fee. So he sells to minors and drunkards and blacklisted men; he keeps open all night and all day Sunday. Indeed, I would not ask for much better prohibition, if our civic au- thorities would rigidly enforce the liquor laws. If the saloons are not outlaws, why do they so stubbornly resist every ordinance for the removal of screens and partitions? Surely, there must be some- thing that will not bear the light of day. Yes, the saloon is at heart a criminal, and the only effective way to deal with it is to take it for a criminal and deal with it as a criminal. Nothing but the hard fist of the Ten Commandments, with ihe police power of the city and nation be- hind it, can successfully deal with such an institution. Warden Wolfer, of the Minnesota State’s prison, in his report for the two years ending July 31, 1904, says, that of the five hundred and eighteen prisoners, three hundred and nineteen were mod- 4 49 SIX MODERN DEVILS erate drinkers, two hundred and thirty- four were heavy drinkers, and only twenty-eight were total abstainers. Judge Wofford, of the Kansas City courts, says: ‘‘Four-fifths of the time of this court is taken up with crimes caused by whisky. The greatest evil that now affects this country is the abuse of whisky. Every day men are swimming to the penitentiary through whisky. ’’ An ex-judge of a town of six thou- sand people, and having fourteen sa- loons, says that in the eight years of his administration with about two hundred and fifty cases a year, only eight cases could not be traced to the saloon. Here is the opinion of Governor Hanly, of Indiana, who declared he would refuse to appoint to office any man addicted to drink. He says: ‘‘The saloon becomes an example of law-breaking in almost every community, and the object lesson is offered to many of those who are ready pupils in crime. The saloon there- by becomes in thousands of instances an institution from which are quickly grad- 50 THE LIQUOR TRAFFIC uated those whose names crowd the dockets of our criminal courts, nor has the saloon hesitated to inject itself with increasing aggressiveness into political affairs, and the growing participation of the saloon and the evident results of this activity in primaries and elections is a feature of our politics which challenges attention.’’ This leads us to the final count in our indictment, namely, that the saloon cor- rupts our politics. In this country every question of serious interest to the people becomes a political question. You can not, therefore, confine the saloon ques- tion to the region of moral suasion. We have seen that every species of vice, deg- radation, and crime grows out of the saloon. We have made all these crimes the subject of political consideration and punishment. But this appears absurd if we do not include the mother of crime. The saloon has invaded polities; and we must invade politics also, if we hope to reach and deal with this evil. It stuffs ballot boxes, elects its tools to office, buys legislation and protection, and in every ol SIX MODERN DEVILS way disgraces the fair name of American political life. Almost every campaign has come to be more or less a ‘‘ beer cam- paign,’’ and thus the saloon has come to be a controlling element in polities, city, county, state, and nation. In view of these facts, it becomes the mission of every loyal American to de- stroy the saloon in defense of our na- tional life and honor. This government has a right to destroy any business that threatens its life, or that debauches the character of its subjects. Consequently this whole question is rightfully a political question. The sa- loon thrusts its filthy hand into polities on every occasion. Between rival candi- dates it holds the balance of power, and despises other elements in political life. A bar-keeper in Richmond, Va., hear- ing some talk of a reform movement, laughed it to scorn, and said, ‘‘ Any bar- room in Richmond is a bigger man in politics than all the churches in Rich- mond put together.’’ I fear this is only too true, not only in Richmond, but everywhere. And why? Because the 52 THE LIQUOR TRAFFIC saloon element cares nothing for party. It supports only those who support it. It presents a solid front and no division. And this is the lesson we must learn from the enemy. We must get together and stand together. For this purpose the Anti-Saloon League affords us a splendid basis for co-operation, and its magnificent success up to date shows the wisdom of the plan. The great increase in the number of independent voters is encouraging. When a candidate for President is given two hundred thou- sand majority by the people of a cer- tain State, while the candidate of the same party for governor of that same State is defeated by three thousand ma- jority, it is time to believe that the in- dependent voter has come to stay. What we need above everything else is that the men who love their country more than the spoils of office, who think more of principle than of party, shall array themselves together on some broad plat- form of righteousness and smite the liquor traffic to its death. Here, then, is our case against this 53 SIX MODERN DEVILS enemy of all public good. It causes dis- ease, inspires immorality, pauperizes labor, breeds lawlessness and crime, and corrupts polities. Now, the great question is, What are we going to do about it? There are those who tell us we have no business to do anything about it. Are they cor- rect? George W. Bain says: ‘‘There is not a jewel glittering from the hand of a rumseller’s wife or children that did not cost jewels of manhood from the homes of the people.’’ If this be true, then every teacher and preacher and parent has a right to do something about it. A saloon-keeper, asked what he thought a Christian was, replied, ‘‘One who says his prayers, and minds his own business.’’?’ Of course he meant that the Christian should not interfere with the liquor interests. But the Serip- tural conception of a Christian is quite different. Paul says he is a soldier—a fighter. His life is one of warfare. This warfare is offensive as well as de- fensive. Our contest is with the enemies 54 THE LIQUOR TRAFFIC of men. Surely this means the saloon and kindred evils. Therefore, the Chris- tian has no right to be content with “‘saying his prayers’’ while any bare- faced iniquity proposes to destroy the lives and souls of men. If a rum-shop exists within striking distance of him, it is the Christian’s business to strike it. If it is the duty of the Church to save the drunkard, it is much more her duty to stop drunkard making. If it is the duty of the Church to lift up the fallen, it is much more her duty to keep men from falling. If it is the duty of the Church to support civil government, it is much more her duty to see that she has a clean and honest civil govern- ment to support. If it is the duty of the Church to pray for men in authority, it is much more her duty to see that she has decent men in authority to pray for. If it is the duty of the Church to submit to the powers that be, it is much more her duty to see that the powers that be are ordained of God, not of the devil. You see, the Christian is not done minding his business when he has fin- 55 SIX MODERN DEVILS ished his prayers. God means that His Church shall be a terror to evil-doers and evil institutions. And unless we make it so, we fail to do our full duty. 56 THE GAMBLING HABIT **For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat.’’ —Second Thessalonians 3: 10. O one entertains a doubt that gambling has become one of our national curses. And yet here is a much neglected topie. Why is not gambling more frequently considered and more openly condemned ? Certainly not because we favor or con- done it. The fact is, we are as unawak- ened to this evil as our great-grand- fathers were to the evils of drunkenness and lust. But the time has come to ring the death-knell of this evil from every pulpit, platform, and press. This will surely require strength and courage, for this evil, like many others, has fortified itself behind great wealth and vast polit- ical influence. Many years ago Mr. 57 SIX MODERN DEVILS James Greenwood declared that London was afflicted with ‘‘seven curses.’’ They were neglected children, professional thieves, professional beggars, fallen women, drunkenness, gambling, and waste of charity. Of gambling, he said, ‘It causes, perhaps, more ruin and ir- reparable dismay than any other two of London’s eurses.’’? While I could not give unqualified endorsement to this statement, I do believe that the curse of gambling is second only to that of the saloon. The spirit of gambling is growing and prevails among all classes of society. There are some streets in our large cities almost impassable when the re- sult of some race, prize-fight, baseball or football game is expected. Much space and prominence is given by our newspa- pers to ‘‘sporting notes.’’? And why such crowds, so much space and prominence? I answer, gambling! Very few of our daily papers have the strength to resist the vile contagion. But the papers de- vote so much space to ‘‘sporting news’’ because the people want it; and the 58 THE GAMBLING HABIT people want it because they are gam- bling on the results of these contests. As to the results of gambling, it would be simply impossible to exaggerate them. Most appropriately, indeed, are the re- sorts of gamblers called ‘‘gambling hells,’? for gambling, like drunkenness, becomes finally an overpowering appe- tite which the victim is powerless to re- sist. Occasionally the newspapers give us a glance at the deviltry and anguish of gambling in the account of some poor fellow who has betrayed his trust. Ruin, despair, suicide! These are the three swift steps by which many a gambler passes to his doom. What, now, is gambling? Webster says: ‘‘To gamble is to play a game for money or other stake.’’ In other words, gambling is an attempt to get something for nothing. The question has been raised, Is gambling wrong? Must we absolutely condemn it? There are many sophisms in the air. Young men are frequently told that one may do what he likes with his own. A preacher once told the students at Ox- 59 SIX MODERN DEVILS ford that gambling was all right ‘‘if you only bet small amounts.’’ But what in the name of reason has the amount to do with it? You may with equal reason say, ‘‘It is all right to murder, if you only kill a few people.’’ ‘‘It is all right to steal, if you only take small sums.”’ There is a principle here to be kept in mind. Here is a case of sophism. Prof. Kirby, of the Catholic University of America, recently said: ‘‘Gambling is not simply a game of chance, for chance is present in most business transactions. Gambling is not merely the desire for gain. It is not merely a means of ex- citement. The constitutional gambler is the man who desires only gain at play as a means to enable him to play again. It may seem strange for me to say so as a professor of ethics, but I have never been able to find a reason that will permit me to say gambling is wrong. * * * Properly done, gambling is not a dissipation, but a recreation.’?’ Away with such trifling. Gambling is either right or wrong. Which shall we say? Such sophistic statements as those of 60 THE GAMBLING HABIT Prof. Kirby remind me of the old story of the farmer and his wife who sat down together to read the latest news from the village paper. The old gentleman began with ‘‘Fatal accidents.’? ‘‘Was any- body killed?’’ asked the listening wife. “‘T don’t know,’’ said the husband; ‘‘wait till I read on farther,’’ and so he slowly toiled through the story. It was the account of a runaway. The man in the case ‘‘had every bone in his body broken,’’? and the woman ‘‘barely sur- vived to be carried to the nearest house.’’ Again the impatient wife in- quired, ‘‘But what I want to know is, Was anybody killed?’’ ‘‘Well,’’ slowly responded the old farmer, ‘‘ Well, Maria, that is one thing that it don’t tell.’’ So the Bible does not specifically for- bid gambling, but it does forbid the spirit that leads up to it and the passions that result from it. Consequently, every thoughtful, fair-minded man will agree that gambling is positively and abso- lutely wrong. And for two reasons. First, it promotes gain without merit. It rewards those who do not deserve it. 61 SIX MODERN DEVILS The wholesome law of life is that man shall eat his bread in the sweat of his face. And where that law is systemat- ically violated it is a curse to all con- cerned. St. Paul says that every man should ‘‘labor, working with his hands the thing that is good, that he may have whereof to give to him that hath need.”’ This does not necessarily mean manual labor in every case. Indeed, a man may work much more laboriously for the public good with his brain. But it does mean that, either with brawn or brain, every man ought to work for the public good. St. Paul even went so far as to say, ‘‘If any man will not work, neither let him eat.’’ In short, starve him to it. What an outery there would be if the pulpits of the land should utter so revolutionary a sentiment! But St. Paul utters it. And I venture to say that some day this doctrine will be embodied in our legislation. In many places now every arrested vagrant must do service on the public works; and some day the most despised outcast of society will be the immoral wretch who does nothing 62 THE GAMBLING HABIT with brain or brawn to deserve the bread he eats. And this whether he is rich or poor. Welcome the day when the old Jewish custom of teaching every boy a trade shall be restored! The second German emperor was a first-class jew- eler. Queen Victoria taught all her daughters to work. So every man and woman should be able ‘‘to work with their hands the thing that is good.’’ But gambling is contrary to all this. It gives to him who has not toiled and who does not deserve. Thus it directly obstructs the progress of Christian civilization. It destroys the vital principles of in- dustry and thrift. Here is the first fatal objection to gambling. And the second is like unto it. Gam- bling promotes one man’s gain through another’s loss. It is, therefore, anti- social as well as anti-Christian. All lawful trade promotes mutual advan- tages; this is the unfailing test of legiti- mate transactions. Hence, anything that benefits you by injuring your neighbor is wrong. Here is where the liquor traffic falls under the ban. And here 63 SIX MODERN DEVILS ' gambling meets its condemnation. But this is the point we so often miss in our denunciation of this evil; and yet here is the vital point. The only legitimate way of making gain is the putting forth of some effort that will further the gen- eral good and give to others an equiva- lent for their money. But in gambling the opposite of all this happens. No ef- fort for the general good, and the hap- piness of the winner invariably involves the misery of the loser. Hence, gam- bling is anti-social. It sears the sym- pathies, cultivates a hard selfishness, and so produces a general deterioration of character and conduct. Gambling is, therefore, only another name for steal- ing. Every attempt to get something for nothing—every attempt to take one’s money without rendering an equivalent is on a par with pick-pocketing; from a moral point of view there is no differ- ence. Now, there are various forms of gam- bling. It is really astonishing how many there are. During the coronation of King Edward, it was discovered that 64 THE GAMBLING HABIT twenty-five millions of dollars of insur- ance was held by thrifty Britains on the life of their sovereign, and on the coro- nation itself. This betting on the life of a man grates upon our American sensibilities. But are we any better? I fear that an attempt at comparison would prove humiliating to us. One of the most colossal forms of gambling known to this country was the Louisiana Lottery. Here was held forth the glittering possibility of securing from one to ten thousand dollars for an investment of from one to ten dollars. It would be impossible to discover just how many of our people were gulled by this gigantic swindle, for people of all classes were induced to enter the lists. I distinctly recall the fever of my own brain, when, as a boy, I held a tenth of a ticket, and waited with baited breath the turn of the wheel. But the Louisiana Lottery is a thing of the past. By dint of hard work we succeeded in outlawing the infamous institution. Then we had our ‘‘policy shops,’’ which were patron- ized chiefly by the poorer classes. Here 5 69 SIX MODERN DEVILS was the center of interest for many of our colored population, who played ‘‘four eleven forty-four,’’ ‘‘come seven, come eleven,’’ and various other com- binations. Closely associated with this are such games as roulette, faro, for- tune-wheels, ete. Upon all of these the law now places its disapproval. Then there are the various games played with cards, such as poker and the like. And upon this the law places the ban. We have also the betting form of gambling already referred to. Bets are placed on everything—a horse race, a prize-fight, an athletic contest, a ball game, and even the results of an election. Very few men buy a cigar any more without resorting to the use of dice or a slot machine. This gambling device has also crept into our business life. We have stamped out the lottery, policy shops are under the ban, and we frown upon professional gambling. Yet we are a speculation- mad people. What about our ‘‘ bucket shops’? and ‘‘stock exchanges??? Mr. Mulhall, the English statistician, says, ‘¢ Americans have reduced gambling to 66 THE GAMBLING HABIT a science, and carry it on in a most gi- gantic way.”’ Then, we have just the common social gambling with cards, such as whist, cinch, euchre. These games have come to be a social fad, in which the players contend for prizes. This evil extended so far in some parts of Mississippi that Judge Lowry, of Holly Springs, ordered the grand jury of that city some time ago to bring in indictments against per- sons known to engage in progressive euchre playing. This new fad is rap- idly undermining the very foundations of morality. A fond mother was show- ing a visitor a fine punch bowl which she had won a short time before at a progressive euchre party, and was very proud of the achievement; when her son, just reaching manhood, pulled out a roll of greenbacks and, thumping it on the table, said, ‘‘See what I have won play- ing cards the other night.’’ The mother, startled and horrified, said, ‘‘ Why, you have been gambling.’’ Sure enough; they both had been gambling. I can not see the difference between a game of 67 SIX MODERN DEVILS cards played by a lot of society ladies for a cut-glass vase and a game of cards played by a few men in some out-of-the- way place for five-dollar bills. All gam- bling looks alike to me. It is this social gambling that keeps the ranks of pro- fessional gamblers recruited. A con- verted gambler said in substance that the time was when gamblers had to be taught. But now this is not necessary. Young men are taught in their homes and become adepts at the game. As a result, the professional gamblers find the young men trained to their hands, and they are saved all the trouble in teach- ing them. In view of these facts, is it not time for Christians, and all others . who are interested in public and private morality, to go back to some of the old- fashioned notions that have been dis- carded? Progress in righteousness cer- tainly does not lie in the direction of progressive euchre, and the time may not be far distant when judges and juries will need to take the matter in hand to save us from individual, social, and national wreck. 68 THE GAMBLING HABIT Some one in a small city or country town may ask, ‘‘How does all this affect our community?’’ In that case it may be well to say that fully three- fourths of what I have said applies to every city and town. We American people are afflicted with the gambling curse. Now, it may possibly surprise you to know that very much of this gambling is carried on in saloons. It has already been declared that the saloon is an out- law; that if saloon-keepers were forced to obey all the laws, they would be forced out of business. That is true as to their complicity in the gambling crime. Here is the source of much of the saloon profits. This is one reason why our saloon-keeper does not want to remove his screens and partitions. There are other gambling quarters, ’tis true, but they are under cover. Let us get this enemy that stands in the open, and then go after the hidden foe. When we come to contemplate the re- sults of gambling, our hearts fail us. No pen can write an adequate summary. No 69 SIX MODERN DEVILS artist’s brush can give anything like a true picture. Only approximately can we sum up these deadly results. Cer- tainly it brings poverty and sorrow to many homes—indeed, to all gamblers’ homes. The question is often asked, ‘‘What becomes of the vast sums lost and won in gambling?’’ ‘*‘ Why does the successful gambler always die poor?’’ Simply because no man regards the money obtained by gambling in the same way he considers the wages of his toil. The first thing the success- ful gambler thinks of is to ‘‘have a good time.’’ Success in gambling be- gets folly in spending. The loser loses; the winner squanders. The whole is gone, and both die ‘‘broke.’’ So, then, success in gambling is no insur- ance against sorrow. * * * It also brings business losses and failures. Of course the losing gambler can not pay his debts, and this means rum. * * * But how does gambling affect the great army of employees? From the North- western Christian Advocate of August 3, 1904, I take the following, which I 70 THE GAMBLING HABIT think will serve as a sufficient answer to the above question: ‘‘The efforts of employees to make up their losses in speculating and other forms of gambling by robbing their employers has led to several guarantee companies, which is- sue bonds of various kinds, to take the position that they will not only refuse to go security for those who gamble, but will cancel the bonds of gamblers. The United States Guarantee Company and the Guarantee Company of North Amer- ica, two of the largest companies in this country, have issued the following cir- cular: ‘In view of the apparently in- ereasing tendency to gamble and specu- late, which is manifesting itself among all classes, the growing habit among em- ployees of banks, railways, and other large enterprises to ‘‘chip in,’’ ‘‘pool,’’ and form a ‘‘pot’’ for the purpose of taking ‘‘flyers,’? profiting by ‘‘sure tips,’’? and by such methods inducing otherwise honest and reputable men, and especially young men and minors, to be- gin that which soon becomes a habit and afflicts as a mania; in view of the great 71 SIX MODERN DEVILS pecuniary losses which fall upon em- ployers, surety companies, parents and guardians, by reason of such wrong- doing, and with the desire to lessen and stay to some degree, if possible, the penalties which come to the individuals indulging in such evils, and the misery and suffering which too frequently fall upon the parents, families, and friends, as a necessary result of such wrong- doing, the undersigned companies have determined to immediately cancel the bond on any and every employee bonded against whom proof of gambling or speculating has been obtained.’ Com- menting on this, the general agent of the first named company and secretary of the second, says that ‘within a com- paratively short time the tendency of young men to gamble and speculate has developed at an astonishing rate. We are doing this for the good of the em- ployee as well as for the protection of the employer. Hereafter no person who has a taint for the gambling habit about him ean obtain a bond. This action will do much to suppress gambling.’ In Chi- 72 THE GAMBLING HABIT eago alone there are fifty thousand bonded employees.’? The New York Times of July 24, 1893, contained a col- umn article headed ‘‘ Victims of the Race Track,’’ in which it gave a long list of forgeries and embezzlements, all attrib- utable to gambling. There is a sermon of the deepest pathos and power in the confession of Geo. M. Valentine, the de- faulting cashier of the wrecked Perth Amboy, N. Y., bank. He says: ‘‘The Saturday I left the bank for the last time, I took with me seven thousand, nine hundred dollars that was not mine. I knew that the bank examiner would be around next week, and that I would have to make a semi-annual statement, and an apparent shortage of thirteen thousand dollars would be discovered. Therefore I took the money, determined, if possible, to make up my shortage. I went to the only place where I knew money could be made quickly, for I had no time to lose. I went to a gambling house and played roulette. JI won and lost and won again. Finally chance seemed to be turning in my favor. I (6 SIX MODERN DEVILS had in front of me, in chips and money, the seven thousand, nine hundred dol- lars and three thousand besides. It seemed to me the time had come to strike, and I struck. I put up every- thing I had. The wheel went round and round and I grew dizzy watching it. The little balls dropped into one of the niches, and I had lost. That was the end.’’ Chauncey Depew says: ‘‘A con- siderable portion of failures in business, and ninety per cent of the defaleations and thefts, are due to gambling. I have seen so much misery from men spend- ing their time and money in gambling that I have come to believe that the com- munity that tolerates it can not have prosperity in business, religion in its Churches, or morality among its peo- ple.’’ Now for the remedy. What can we do to abolish this evil? Would it not be well to organize an ‘‘anti-gambling society’’ for the purpose of creating and directing public opinion? We have our societies to suppress drunkenness, lust, and war. And we know what vast 74. THE GAMBLING HABIT changes in opinion and law they have wrought. Why not pursue something of the same method in dealing with gam- bling? Would it not also be well to boycott all gamblers? Refuse to give your busi- ness patronage or your political support to gamblers. Nothing would do more to impress the public conscience than to make gambling a moral disqualification for a seat in Congress or the State Leg- islature. All it requires is sufficient pub- lic sentiment. But we must finally resort to legis- lation. Mr. Mulhall says: ‘‘So general has the evil become in England, that the House of Lords appointed a select com- mittee on betting. The report of that committee shows the alarming growth of this evil in that country, and the means that should be employed to check it. A step was taken in the right direction when the Home Secretary announced in the House of Commons that all lot- teries and raffles were to be excluded from the Coronation Bazar.’’ At a re- cent session of the Minnesota Legisla- 75 SIX MODERN DEVILS ture, a bill was passed empowering ‘“‘Any city or village to prohibit the maintenance of bucket-shops by a mee jority vote of the electors.”? * * We also need legislation that will pro- hibit the publication of betting news. Some newspapers are reaching such a high moral plane as to eliminate betting news from their columns. A recent Legislature of New York so changed existing laws as to make it pos- sible to obtain evidence against keepers of gambling houses. Formerly frequent- ers could not be compelled to testify, on the ground that they might degrade or incriminate themselves. But now testi- mony may be made compulsory. * * * These are all indications of an upward movement in morals. Here, then, are the remedies: moral suasion, influence, education, and legis- lation. By a liberal use of these we may make gambling as disreputable as drun- kenness and lust. 76 THE GOSSIP EVIL **Speak not evil one of another, brethren.’’ —James 4: 11. NE of the most wonderful facul- ties of man is his power of speech. And this faculty may be utilized for incalculable good or evil. What is a word? An im- mortal idea. Impressed with the po- tency of speech, the poet Longfellow sings: ce . . I shot an arrow into the air, It fell to the earth, I knew not where; For so swittly it flew, the sight Could not follow it in its flight. I breathed a song into the air, It fell to the earth I knew not where; For who has sight so keen and strong That it can follow the flight of a song. Long, long afterward in an oak, I found the arrow still unbroke ; And all the song, from beginning to end, I found again in the heart of a friend.’’ Me SIX MODERN DEVILS Figuratively speaking, the tongue is a bow from which the arrow of love or malice flies to the hearts of our fellows. Morally speaking, it is more criminal to utter a lie than to forge a note, or to counterfeit a coin; for the note and coin you can catch and destroy, but you can never overtake the lie. However, we do not realize this. Our human codes of law recognize the gravity of the offense when it comes to the crimes of murder and theft, but they do not- count it so grave an offense when the murder or theft is committed by the tongue. In the third chapter of James we have a great sermon on the use of the tongue. James first teaches us to govern the tongue. If a man governs his tongue, he is a perfect man, able to govern his whole body. But if a man fails to gov- ern his tongue, all his pretensions to re- ligion are vain. Some one has said: ‘‘The tongue is located in the head, up where it can make itself seen and heard and felt; and, without stopping to con- sult any work on anatomy, I will as- 78 THE GOSSIP EVIL sume that it is nicely balanced and works with great ease. That it is badly de- praved is very apparent, and that at times it seems totally depraved but few will question.’’ The relation of the tongue to man is set forth under the two impressive fig- ures of the bit in the horse’s mouth and the helm on a ship, showing its power of control and direction. James then teaches us to dread an unruly tongue as we would dread a most pernicious evil. ‘‘The tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity.’’ It sets on fire the course of nature. Affairs of society are often thrown into confusion by the tongue. It is a fire, indeed, but it is a fire set on fire of hell. The devil is an accuser, a liar, a murderer; and when- ever men’s tongues are employed in false accusation, in a malicious scandal, in wicked lying, they are set on fire of hell. The apostle further shows us how dif- ficult it is to control this member. ‘‘It can not be tamed.’? To emphasize this fact, he compares and contrasts it with 79 SIX MODERN DEVILS wild beasts. These can be tamed, but not the tongue. That is to say, it can not be tamed by any human process. If some Yankee could invent a patent for such business, his fortune would be as- sured. To master the tongue, and, by the help of grace, bring it into subjec- tion, is a vastly greater achievement than overthrowing a kingdom or found- ing an empire. Thus we see the task be- fore us. ‘‘There are but ten precepts of the law of God,’’ says Leighton, ‘‘and two of them, so far as concerns the out- ward organ and vent of the sins there forbidden, are bestowed on the tongue, one in the first table and the other in the second, as though it were ready to fly out both against God and man if not thus bridled.’’ Let us now look more closely at this power of speech as a factor in our every- day, practical life. No factor is more important in character building, both for ourselves and others. Speech may be utilized for great good, as when Peter the Hermit became the great moving spirit of the Crusades, and 80 THE GOSSIP EVIL when Patrick Henry stirred the loyal, liberty-loving colonists of Virginia, and “*Give me liberty or give me death’’ be- came the battle-cry of American free- dom. Human speech may comfort the distressed, encourage the downcast, in- spire the despairing. It may arrest a sinful career and change the course of another’s life. John B. Gough is said to have been started on the road to reformation and Christian living by a man who pleasantly addressed him as ““Mr. Gough’’ when he was a drunken loafer. See also in human speech the possi- bility of prayer and praise, of confession and thanksgiving. Wonderful are the possibilities for good. But there are also possibilities for evil. How many repu- tations and characters are destroyed by the unruly tongue! The Psalmist says: ‘‘I will take heed unto my ways, that I sin not with my tongue.’’ Our words are readily committed to our im- pulses; but as these impulses may easily be wrong, wrong words may easily be spoken, and the transient feeling fixes 6 ) 81 SIX MODERN DEVILS itself in a word that bites. Thus, finally, the man is committed to something which he otherwise would be glad to for- get. This not only removes the restraint upon passion, but it also has a depress- ing effect upon life. Many a soul has been hurled into hell by a surly growl or a censorious, fault-finding spirit. Many of the sins of life are committed by the tongue. Laurentius once said: ‘‘There are as many kinds of sins of the tongue as there are letters in the alphabet.’’ Consequently, a list of those things to be avoided in our conversation would be very large, including profanity, falsehood, obscenity, slander, and gossip. But it is my purpose to speak of just one — gossip. This sort of conversation is indulged in by those multitudinous, buzzing, ven- omous pests of society whom St. Paul describes as meddlers and tattlers and busybodies, going about from house to house, speaking things which they ought not. Under this head of gossip we may group several familiar things. But before proceeding to classify 82 THE GOSSIP EVIL these, allow me to remind you that repu- tation and character constitute a per- son’s real capital. To succeed in any pursuit one must be in good repute both for ability and honor. The mechanic must have a reputation for skill and so- briety; the banker must be known for his business sagacity and honesty; the artist must be renowned for his genius and reliability. The minister at the al- tar, the lawyer at the bar, the physician by the bedside, must each be esteemed for his ability and integrity. Do you not see the commercial value of a reputa- tion? Therefore, to blast that reputa- tion is to rob the man. The chief dif- ference between a robber and a despoiler of a reputation is that sometimes you may recover the stolen goods, but never, or seldom, the reputation. Hence, no punishment is too severe for one who deliberately ruins the fair name of an- other. You remember the lines of Shake- speare: ““Who steals my purse, steals trash; But he who filches from me my good name, 83 SIX MODERN DEVILS Robs me of that which not enriches him, Yet leaves me poor indeed.’’ The first form of gossip is censorious conversation. This word ‘‘censorious’’ is suggested to us by the duties of the Roman censor, who exercised the office of inspector of morals and conduct. Hence a censorious person is a critical, fault- finding person; one who delights in this. Nothing is easier for some people than to make conversation lively at the ex- pense of others. Another kind of gossip is that which we call ‘‘hearsay.’’ The foundation for this sort is laid in the preface attached to so many bits of news—‘‘They say.’’ There are many small people who are never so happy as when, mosquito-like, they can keep flitting and buzzing and stinging some poor victim, while they hide behind the statement of ‘‘hearsay.’’ Here is an expressive putting of the case: ““Who says that Smith must beat his wife? Who says Jones leads a double life? Who says that Brown makes party strife? They. THE GOSSIP EVIL Who says the words that sting and smart? Who incognito plies the art? And yet of whom you are a part? They. Then, we have a form of gossip known as ‘‘back-biting.’’ A very suggestive name, indeed. Here is a form of cow- ardly slander which does not meet the object of its calumny face to face, but stealthily bites him in the back. It was St. Augustine who suspended over his hospitable table this suggestive couplet: “* He that is wont to slander absent men May never at this table sit again.’’ Pythagoras used to say that the wound from the tongue is worse than that from the sword; for the latter af- fects only the body, while the former affects the spirit—the soul. Back-biting is as old as Adam. When this man Adam attempted to throw all his sin on his wife’s shoulders, he probably tried to whisper his accusation behind her back. But at least one person preceded Adam at this foul business. The devil slandered the Almighty in the ears of 85 SIX MODERN DEVILS Eve. The literal meaning of diabolos is back-biter. The devil was the first back-biter, and the father of them all. In many Bible texts whisperers and back-biters are classed together. This is because Satan, the original, teaches his children that an evil story is best impressed by clouding it in mystery and whispering it as a secret. The back-biter is generally one who suspects the un- worthiness of another because he knows his own unworthiness. Let it be re- ported to-morrow that some business man, hitherto known and accepted as honorable, has, under great temptation, fallen, and misappropriated trust funds, and the first man to believe and retail the report will be the man who feels in his own heart that, under like tempta- tion, he himself would have fallen. It is the man who has the least religion who makes the most noise when some- body else stumbles. There is also a form of gossip by which news is conveyed ‘‘in strict con- fidence.”? ‘‘I wouldn’t for the world have it go any farther.”’ 86 THE GOSSIP EVIL The great trouble is that most of us talk too much. Some one has said, “