The Sun.
London, England, 1870-05-07 00:00:00

LONDON, SATURDAY, MAY 7, 1870.

On and after May 10th THE SUN will be pub-
lished as a MORNING and EVENING NEWSPAPER, at
the price of One Penny.
The Morning Edition will be published at 8 a.m.,
containing four hours' later news than the other
morning papers. Special Telegrams will be given
in this edition from the leading capitals of Europe,
America, India, and all parts of the United
Kingdom.

With the exception of London, most of the leading
towns in Great Britai❑ have had the advantage of a
publication at 8 a.m., giving later news than can
appear in the usual editions of the morning papers.
The recent development of telegraphic communi-
cation has made additional news available at 8 a.m.,
and has thus increased the advantages which may be
secured by placing before the public the latest infor-
mation prior to their entering upon the engagements
of the day.
The principles upon which THE SUN has been
conducted for a long series of years will be consis-
tently maintained—the Editorial management re-
maining in the same hands as hitherto.

The Evening Editions of THE SUN will be pub
shed at 3.30 and 7 p.m.

TE LE members of the Jockey Club will probably
consider themselves hardly dealt with in bein.2. ewn-
pared to the members of the Greek Goverillnent.
Nevertheless, the comparison is in many resp,.c!s a

ust one. Like the Administration at Athens the

Government of the Turf Empire has sacrificed the
spirit of its constitution to the letter. Like the
Greeks it has pleaded formality as an e7;(.llse
for neglecting to guard against a great prac-
tical evil; like the Greeks it has persistently
stood by regulations which have been lielate]l
again and again. At the Newmarket Craven
Meeting. Sir Joseph Hawley, in a true reforming
span, moved for a committee to inquire
into the abuses of the turf, at the same time an-
nouncing his intention of submitting to this com-
mittee a very trenchant scheme of reform, including
certain provisions well calculated to restrict the

great and rapidly spreading evil of betting. The
Jockey Club refused to grant such an inquiry. It
had no objection to a committee, provided the subject
of betting was not to be touched upon ; but
betting was beyond its jurisdiction, and it
could not frame laws to control it. Sir
Joseph refused to accept an inquiry on such
terms, and his motion was therefore con-

temptuously rejected. On Wednesday the matter
again came under notice, and a committee was ap-
pointed for the purpose of investigating the abuses
of the turf—minus betting. This procedure greatly
resembles the doings of those wise Ministers who

lately offered the Marathon brigands any terms—no
matter how degrading or ridiculous—except
only the terms which would ensure the
object in view. The Jockey Club are prepared to
attempt any reform except that without which all
amendment is utterly vain and useless. There is
much reason to doubt whether betting does not
come, even literally, within the scope of the Club's
powers. On divers occasions that august body have
passed laws which to the unsophisticated mind mar-
vellously resembled laws intended for the regulation
of betting. It is quite certain that any ordinance
with this " object would command obe-
dience on every regular racecourse in the
kingdom. But, at any rate, if the Club cannot
interfere with betting, it is quite idle to appoint a
committee. It is all very well to establish a " close
time," or to put handicaps in order, or to settle the
two-year-old question; but such laudable procedures
labour under the disadvantage of being not to the
point. What is wanted is protection for the public,
not for professional turfites. The latter must look
to themselves. For the vast misguided section of the
community to which speculation upon a race is an affair
of blind gambling, horses and "events " have no
meaning, save as symbols of investment. No matter
what restrictions may be placed on the general con-
duct of these contests, the demoralising game of
chance will go on as before. But once set up the
regulation that a bet is void unless the horse actually
starts, and the system of gambling would cease,
because no one would be able to make a profit by it.
There would be no betting except at the post. Let
this be done, and other reforms will prove a valuable
supplement; leave betting untouched, and no other
reform is worth having.
The refusal of the Jockey Club to exercise its un-
questionable power is quite intelligible. But it can
have no greater success than to gain a little breath-
ing time, at the end of which a worse thing will
befall the jealously-guarded interests of the turf.
At present this unrestrained gambling affords an
agreeable excitement, and a fine source of profit to
the professionals at the expense of the general public.
Those who make a trade of racing mostly gain,
whilst the deluded mob pay the cost. Disagreeable as
it may be, however,, to suffer interference with such
an eligible source of booty, it will be the duty of the
Legislature to make good the shortcomings of the
Jockey Club, and to act in the interests of the nation,
not in the interests of the turf. The question is
only one of time. Mr. Bruce's answer to
Mr. Hughes may be taken as evidence
that the onslaught is preparing. Of
course it will be beyond the power of the
law to establish that bets on horses which
do not start are void, for all betting is already
void in the eyes of the law ; but as such a quiet
remedy
will be impracticable, so the blow must be
all the more severe and uncompromising. Turf
gambling flourishes now because bets are regarded as
affairs of honour; and if the turf tribunal decided
that no dishonour, nor any social penalty, was to be
awarded to the repudiation of certain kinds
of betting, the thing would be done at
once. Parliament must be content with a
rougher style. The entire apparatus by which pro-
fessional bookmakers angle for the earnings of the
working class and the lower middle class, requires
to be ruthlessly swept away. When that end is se-
cured, we shall all be very thankful for anything the