BUSINESS OR GAMBLING 79 



tained this degree of perfection, yet I have in 

 mind one who has practiced this system for a full 

 generation. An appeal to his sympathies, even 

 by an associate, would bring a smile to the lips of 

 the golden calf which he worships. He is finan- 

 cially sound as the Bank of England, and has mil- 

 lions of dollars, and, possibly, somewhere a friend. 

 Having proclaimed that all speculative systems 

 are fallacious and having denounced their advo- 

 cates as false or foolish, I am about to exploit one 

 myself, claiming for it a mathematical and logi- 

 cal basis and substantial infallibility in practice. 

 At least it proved unfailing during the years I 

 employed it, and the average daily profits ran 

 into the thousands. That my share of the accu- 

 mulations failed to remain with me was not the 

 fault of the system, but my own. Through its 

 proceeds great railroads were founded, educa- 

 tional institutions endowed, and family fortunes 

 established. My partner, who looked on askance 

 at first, soon adopted the theory that a method 

 which, though dealing in chance, worked so inde- 

 pendently of it, was business and not gambling. 



