view raw text
WHAT CONSTITUTES GAMBLING A good cause is often damaged by excess of fervor and there was just a trace of this in soinu of the speeches delivered at the PanAnglican Con ¬ ference discussion on gambling and speculation There was a good deal of truth in the observations made by Mr Killik of the London Stock Exchange who pointed out that the element of speculation en ¬ tered almost inevitably into every business trans ¬ action When the manufacturer buys a large or small quantity of raw material he generally does so in the expectation that there may be a rise or a fall of price He speculates or gambles on his knowledge It is much the same In dealing with securities and though it is easy to define certain transactions as a gamble it Is not equally easv to draw a line between fair business and pure specula ¬ tion Neither is it very easy to distinguish sharply between the harmless custom of giving a stimuli to ones pastimes by a paltry monetary stake and tlio act of gambling using that word in a strict sonse But we know that the man who whets his appetite with a glass of wine or beer is not a drunkard though it would be as reasonable to apply that de ¬ scription to him as to call the player for nominal stakes at bridge a gambler Pall Mall Gazette
