Yet, in the end, the gambler has every dollar of
the crowd that patronizes him. You men have been out in the hot sun for
weeks, working hard to earn the money that the pay train is bringing
you. Has Jim Duff done any work in the last few weeks? While you men
have been toiling and sweating, what has Duff been doing? Hasn't he
been going around wearing the clothes and the air of a gentleman, while
you men have been giving all but your lives for your dollars, while you
have been denied most of the comforts of living. Hasn't Duff been up at
the Mansion House, living on the fat of the land and smiling to himself
every time he thought of you men, who would be ready to hand him all of
your money as soon as it came to you? Is the gambler, who grows fat on
the toil of others, but never toils himself, any better than the vulture
that feeds upon the animals killed by others? Isn't the gambler a
parasite, pure and simple? On whose lifeblood does the gambler feed,
unless it's on yours?"
Tom continued his harangue, becoming more and more intense, yet carrying
his talk along in all simplicity, and with a directness that made scores
of the workmen look sheepish.
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