EFFECTS OF GAMBLING
I have already mentioned the fact that I am possessed of a defective
vision. I believe, and believe sincerely, that this defect of vision
is a handicap to its possessor in the legitimate battle of life.
It was partly responsible in my life for my extreme diffidence, a
diffidence that became in itself one of the causes which led me into
the environment of the pool room. It kept me away from those of good
character, from the decent fellowship of girls and boys of my own
age. I do not mean to say that the defect in itself did all this, but
by reason of it my nature acquired a peculiar temperament, a sort of
aloofness. I have always loved a crowd. I like the life of a city with
its busy folks and ceaseless rush of activity. I like fellowship,
companions to talk to; I hate to be alone. In search of these I
drifted to the pool room.
I find this pool room another step in my journey to the reform school.
It is my experience that while all gamblers may not be crooks, all
crooks are gamblers. This passion for gambling grew strong within me;
my nature was a fertile field for its propagation. Many a dollar of my
ill-gotten gains has gone in a futile attempt to appease its appetite.
Here lies one of the big causes that drove me on. It isn’t the mere
gambling itself which is so destructive to character, it is the lust
for money, the passion for gain that gambling begets, the creating of a
“money want” which the earnings from legitimate labor cannot satisfy;
this to me is the vital evil of the passion. This “money want” eats
into the will power of the man, eventually breaking it down and sending
the man to the devil.
I know now that the three months I spent in jail hurried me on to the
life I lived eventually. Some people will say that I must have been
inherently depraved anyhow, that three months in jail could have
little to do with the making of my character. Of course I do not know
what my life would have been if I had never entered the jail. If, for
instance, I had been paroled, or, if some one had reasoned and talked
the thing over with me, might not the outcome have been different?
It has always appeared strange to me that the State should be a party
to creating the evils which it is at the same time trying to prevent.
This custom of herding young boys suspected or guilty of crime with
older and hardened criminals is a crime against childhood. At an age
when the senses are most receptive the boy should have an environment
free from contaminating influences. If the aim of the State is to
reform and not simply to punish him, the quicker it separates the
youthful criminal from the older one, the better its chances to deplete
the ranks of the underworld.