Gambling And Its Governance In Southern Jiangsu During The Republic Of China (1912-1937)

During the period of the Republic of China,gambling in southern Jiangsu was everywhere,which was closely related to the social background at that time.South Jiangsu was known as a developed economy,whose wealthy life results in a luxurious atmosphere that people squander the name of entertainment for gambling.With Shanghai opened the port,an increasing number of foreign gambling flows into Shanghai,spreads to other parts of southern Jiangsu and develops quickly,making the gambling industry in southern Jiangsu nearly overflow.It shows the following characteristics: the largest number of gambling personnel nationwide;Gambler involves all sectors of society;Gamblers don't care about the four seasons and the day and night to gamble,especially in the Spring Festival and leisure time.Gambling places and ways are varied.The prevalence of gambling has brought severe harm to individuals and society in southern Jiangsu.Gambling damages personal physical and mental health and development in the future,and leads to serious family conflicts.There have been many family dramas and tragedies all parts of country.The idle and speculative gamers formed by gambling lead to destroy the integrity and fairness of the society.After the social atmosphere in southern Jiangsu was destroyed by gambling,the social stability was also threatened,and bad phenomena have occurred,such as the Incidents of collusion between gamblers and bandits,theft and robbery for gambling,beatings and arrest of police officers.In addition,the gamblers in southern Jiangsu are generally young which greatly harms their growth and has a bad and far-reaching social impact.However,the work of prohibit gambling in southern Jiangsu has not stopped.Folk people use proverbs,songs and stories to persuade people to give up gambling.The press gradually became the main way for public opinion to ban gambling.The state and local governments have achieved interactive governance.The counties in southern Jiangsu Province actively bring forth the new when trying to implement the national gambling prohibition laws and regulations.From frequent bans to rewards for police caught gambling,from innovative publicity methods to encouraging the public to blow the whistle,local governments are constantly improving measures to ban gambling.At the same time,the public is also actively supporting the government's efforts to ban gambling.With the efforts of all parties,the anti-gamble work in South Jiangsu has had some positive effects.On the one hand,the treatment of gambling has produced a certain social effect.Specifically,gambling in southern Jiangsu has converged and gambling activities have shifted from openness to secrecy.Due to the weak legal awareness of the public,the lack of quality of law enforcement personnel and the imperfection of relevant laws and regulations,gambling has not been completely eliminated.On the other hand,it promoted the modern transformation of the judicial gambling in southern Jiangsu.The judicial organs in South Jiangsu adhere to the independence of the judiciary and the separation of civil and criminal and tend to be more standardized in dealing with gambling cases.In the trial of gambling cases,judicial personnel adhere to reasonable and legal procedures and the principle of legality to realize the justice and fairness.Through a study on gambling and its governance in southern Jiangsu during the Republic of China,the enlightenment we can get is that in the governance of gambling,we should not only formulate laws and regulations in line with social reality,standardize law enforcement personnel,ensure the standardization and effectiveness of law enforcement and strive to improve the cultural level and moral quality of the whole people by advocating positive and healthy values.