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269 Annals Am. Acad. Pol. & Soc. Sci. vii (1950)

handle is hein.cow/anamacp0269 and id is 1 raw text is: FOREWORD GAMBLING is a well-nigh universal phenomenon. It occurs among people of all ages and cultures Nor is it an offspring of modern civilization, for it was encountered in primitive communities. Indeed, many of the forms of gambling, as well as some of its rationalizations, go back to the dawn of history. Even the Hittites of Biblical times were interested in improving the breed of horses, which is the current cliche jusitfying the sport of kings and its concomitant, betting on the races. American attitudes towards gambling have always been ambivalent in char- acter. Widespread condemnation and participation in gambling go hand in hand. The public press sporadically inveighs against gambling and its attendant evils, yet facilitates it by publishing the data essential to gambling in many forms. Churches condemn gambling, yet profit from raffles and lotteries. Legislatures enact antigambling statutes, yet make it possible for states to participate in moneys wagered at race tracks. Flurries of strict enforcement of gambling statutes alternate with long periods of quasi-official tolerance. The citizen who becomes outraged at revelations of police corruption in connection with gambling never- theless patronizes the neighborhood bookmaker or the one-armed bandit. Moreover, each era has seen a fresh emphasis on some new, or the revival of an old, game of chance or outlet for the gambling instincts of the individual. This generation differs from its predecessors perhaps more in terms of an increased participation in the pastime, rather than in the multiplicity of forms it has as- sumed. Indeed, we have found an amazing similarity between new and old forms of gambling; the stakes are now astronomical, where once they were moderate; the modern devices now employed disguise only thinly the ancient games our fore- bears played. It is extraordinary that, despite such universal participation and interest in gambling, little basic material of an analytical and scientific character has been published concerning this absorbing subject. The literature of gambling is studded with colorful polemics concerning its moral and social features; the shelves of libraries are filled with reports concerning official malfeasance in the enforcement of gambling laws, containing some illuminating chapters on the already well-known aspects of gambling. But nowhere, to our knowledge, has the attempt been made to envisage the problem in all its many-sided forms, and from all its facets. Nobody has attempted to analyze and describe the various forms of gambling, as well as to evaluate their moral, political, social, psychological, and economic implications. This symposium, therefore, represents the first attempt at an over-all analysis of the problem of gambling. It is by no means complete, for this would have re- quired far more space than was available to us, and other techniques of assembling contributions besides that of voluntary collaboration. Nevertheless, despite the gaps and limitations of our material, of which we are painfully aware, we believe that the outstanding features of the problem of gambling have been covered ob- jectively. Our contributors have presented data in the various articles contained herein which make it possible to answer some of the basic questions concerning gambling. vii

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