Be It Resolved

What moral lessons can be drawn from the disclosures of the Kefauver Committee? In separate meetings in Manhattan last week, Protestants and Roman Catholics gave two different answers to the question.

Said the General Board of the National Council of Churches: "The social malady of gambling will not be remedied by criminal prosecutions alone. Stricter standards of moral integrity must be cultivated . . . It is not only gambling syndicates and the public officials who protect them that are involved. All who patronize bookmakers, gambling houses, slot machines and other forms of illegal gambling contribute to the coffers of the syndicates and help to corrupt government.

"But the so-called 'innocent' forms of gambling, such as legalized race-track wagers, betting on athletic events, lotteries, bingo and the like, contribute to weakening the moral fiber of the individual and lower the tone of the community . . .

"Abstinence from misconduct is not enough. Indifference to misconduct anywhere in the community is also guilt."

The American Catholic Philosophical Association drew a careful line between gambling and gambling: "Be it resolved that this association, while convinced that gambling is not in itself immoral, does hereby condemn gambling carried on in ways and conditions that are immoral; and the association also lends its support to properly conducted legal investigations that protect the basic rights of the individual while safeguarding the common good."

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