The Social Cost of the 'Sporting Fraternity'
A debate sparks over whether local businesses truly benefit from the money railroad men lose to gambling.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Mrs. Ellen M. McClure, editor of the Sprague Advertiser, thinks that it would not hurt some towns to prohibit gambling, but with Sprague the case is different. A large part of the money which circulates here is spent by railroad men. The Advertiser is not going to insinuate that all railroad men gamble, but a fraternal spirit exists among them which causes them to divide themselves into classes when off duty; and one class, whose inclinations lead them in that direction, will gamble. When gambling was 'the go' here, the 'sporting' fraternity usually won all the loose change of the aforementioned class and, in turn, spent it with our merchants, thus keeping it at home. Now those boys gamble away just as much money as ever, but do it in Pasco, Hope and Spokane. The 'sporting fraternity' spends its money on liquor and lewd women, and the grocer, clothier and dry goods dealer would fare better if the railroad men were permitted to spend the money themselves.
“The 'sporting fraternity' spends its money on liquor and lewd women, and the grocer, clothier and dry goods dealer would fare better if the railroad men were permitted to spend the money themselves.”
This 1893 editorial captures the timeless tension between local economic boosters and the 'vice' economy. The argument that 'keeping money at home' justifies allowing gambling mirrors modern debates about whether the social costs of certain industries are offset by their taxable contributions to local commerce.
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