he Gambling Question in Lilliland

aron Von Lodge was the head of a small country known as Lilliland near Switzerland. The time was the early 1900s.

Lilliland, with its beautiful Alpine Mountains and spacious Castle Lake, is a very popular resort location. Vacationers like the downhill skiing, ice skating and the other outdoor wintertime activities.

A number of citizens wanted to set up some harmless games of chance for themselves and the tourists.

The Baron said no, if it meant card playing all hours of the night with large stakes and all of the problems that it would create. But he did say yes to Bingo, providing that it was good family fun and would not create a problem with people who did not know how to treat games of chance lightly.

The Baron said they could open a Bingo game on Saturday afternoons from noon until three on a trial basis. The cost would be pennies a game and the prizes would be only a few dollars. By few dollars, the Baron meant not more than three dollars a game in prizes.

The Baron knew of some relatives who would gamble on horses at the English tracks to the tune of a small fortune, and some other relatives who lost their family fortunes in high stakes card games. He said that when the gambling fever struck, some people became so obsessed that their family relationships suffered and family responsibilities neglected.

Sure enough, within a few weeks after the Saturday Bingo game started, the Baron was asked to hold the games more than one day a week and to enlarge the prizes to make the game more sporting. The Baron said no to both suggestions and he began to feel that some citizens had, unfortunately, been bitten by gambling fever. He stood firm to keep the games as entertainment and nothing more.