“But public gambling would be a temptation to the poor man. You admit that poor men should not gamble?” I answer, who is the “poor” man? When you have found him, who is his keeper? Are you the custodian of his judgment and inclinations? I am of opinion he would repudiate your guardianship with indignation. “Consistency thou art,” indeed, “a jewel.” The rich and well-to-do may gamble, perhaps, but not the man of small resources. I ask, who has the right, for that reason, to say the latter nay? Not you, rich gambler in stocks and farm products; nor you, sir, who nightly gamble in the parlor of a comfortable home, or at the private club you assist in maintaining for that purpose. By what authority were you constituted the keeper of a less fortunate neighbor? All this aside, however, the suppression of public gambling will not deter any man from the pursuit, whether “rich” or “poor.” A thousand avenues are opened to him, despite the law and the authorities. In this matter, society must trust to the education of individual character and the gradual amelioration of mankind. Besides, if gambling were subject to regulation, as other pursuits, our laws could the better protect whomsoever it might desire. Transcriber’s Notes Punctuation, hyphenation, and spelling were made consistent when a predominant preference was found in the original book; otherwise they were not changed. Simple typographical errors were corrected. Unbalanced quotation marks were remedied when the change was obvious or the quotation was found in other sources. The others remain unbalanced. The illustration on the Title page is a decorative floral; the other illustrations are decorative headpieces. Page 109: “the band of fate” was printed that way. Page 187: Opening quotation mark has no matching closing mark. End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Gambling, by James Harold Romain