The Ethics of Church Fairs

THE ETHICS OF CHURCH FAIRS, BY MILTON BENNION, PROFESSOR OF PHILOSOPHY, UNIVERSITY OF UTAH. In the eighteenth century the lottery was a very popular means of raising money to build churches, found schools, and other- wise promote human welfare. Colonial and state governments, as well as churches, freely used this method of raising money. The American Continental Congress itself tried the plan. But in course of the nineteenth century, the American people gradually awak- ened to the fact that the lottery itself is a great wrong. They de-cided, therefore, to give up this plan of sending people to heaven by way of hell. There were too many lost in transit. Congress accordingly passed a law prohibiting the transmis- sion through the mails of lottery advertisements and remittances. As this law was inadequate to stop the evil, on July 29, 1890, President Benjamin Harrison sent a special message to Congress on this subject. From this message I quote the following: The recent attempt to secure a charter from the State of North Dakota for a lottery company, the pending effort to obtain from the State of Louisiana a and the establishment of renewal of the charter of the Louisiana State Lottery, one or more lottery companies at Mexican towns near our border, have served the good purpose of calling public attention to an evil of vast proportions. * * * It is not necessary, I am sure, for me to attempt to portray the robbery of the poor and the widespread corruption of public and private morals which are the neceesary incidents of these lottery schemes. While this form of lottery is no longer employed in church fairs, the principle underlying it is still appealed to. This princi- ple is that involved in all games of chance, including what com- monly goes by the name of gambling. It is the desire to get

958 IMPROVEMENT ERA. something for nothing, or for a trifle, without regard to the loss suffered by others in the transaction, together with a fascinating excitement that is stimulated by such games. Do not managers of church fairs cultivate this spirit in young people when they raffle their goods and urge people to buy chances? Suppose the case of a mercantile company contributing a valuable piece of furniture. Instead of selling this property on a business basis, the managers of the fair contrive to let someone have it for a dollar, and that irrespective of the needs of the lucky one. By thus appealing to the gambling spirit, they sell enough tickets to yield the value of the article raffled. It may be contended that those who buy tickets do not do so in a gambling spirit, that they simply contribute to a good cause. That may be true in many cases; but why not give these people a chance to contribute in a way that would eliminate all possibility of selfish motives, and by so doing also refrain from appealing to avarice and fostering evil habits in the morally weak? If a majority of those who buy tickets do so out of the pure love of aiding a good cause, the amounts they thus spend might as well be collected directly as a donation. The articles contributed might then be sold for what they are worth to any one who is financially able and wants to buy. In such a case the elimination of the game of chance would mean financial gain to the church. If, on the other hand, it be maintained that the majority of people will not give in that way, and that raffling must be resorted to in order to raise money, we have at once an admission of the fact that it is the gambling spirit that is being appealed to. This means that for the sake of raising a little money for church pur- poses, managers of fairs are willing to foster the baser human instincts, and to assist people in forming soul-destroying habits. Can anyone find either ethical or logical consistency in this method of redemption? I can account for it only by supposing that this is one of those cases where a man in his eagerness to attain some imme- diate and visible end, loses sight of the fundamental principles of human life and conduct. Voting for a queen, as a method of raising money, is another practice that invites ethical consideration. What are the motives

THE ETHICS OF CHURCH FAIRS. 959 that lead people to buy votes? Here we have the same dilemma as in the case of raffling. Is it a pure desire to give to a good cause? Let them give outright. The good results may thus be attained without any of the otherwise attendant evils. If, on the other hand, those who buy votes would not give in that way, what are the motives? Pride and vanity. And what are the results? Wounded pride, envy, and ill-will on the part of the candidates who fail, and their friends. Who becomes queen of the fair? Anyone whose friends happen to have money and vanity. This is the combination that usually secures the coveted place- The money may come from the saloon or the gambling den, but it is thought to be all right, so long as this money is used to build or to furnish a church. The aim of the church, to save and exalt the souls of men, is forgotten in the mad rush to excel in church buildings and furnishings, or other material ways. In the war upon the tendencies to evil in human nature, would it not be well to eliminate from church fairs e/erything that tends to foster these evil tendencies? Business houses and charitably inclined individuals might properly continue to contrib- ute their goods for church purposes. These articles might be placed on exhibition and^ offered for sale; and people might be encouraged to buy them. The fair might, furthermore, be made the occasion of social enjoyment. Managers have ample oppor- tunity to do this without resorting to questionable methods. There are numerous forms of innocent amusements and elevating entertainments that will promote the success of church fairs and at the same time refresh and uplift the souls of those who attend them. Salt Lake City, Utah.