The Sun.
London, England, 1860-09-29 00:00:00

THE DERBY AND THE LONDON

HOSPIT.ALS.

The following is a copy of .a most important com-
munication, which has been addressed to the
stewards of the Jockey Club by Mr. Joseph Bond,
a gentleman well known in racing circles, who
comes forward in the most liberal spirit to assist
the London hospitals, by endeavouring to secure
for those noble institutions a permanent endowment
from a source that can well afford the desired aid.
Mr. Bond proposes to allocate 10 per cent. of the
Derby and Oaks Stakes, and undertakes to subscribe
the like sum as the basis of a fund to accomplish
the object in view. The nobleness of the sugges-
tion is only equalled by the generosity of its author ;
and taking it for granted that the stewards of the
Jockey Club will not withhold their support to the
proposed plan, we feel confident that no owner of a
horse about to start for either of the great races in
question would refuse his consent to so laudable a
measure, which must tend in every way to exalt
and ennoble the character of the national sport and
its followers :---

To THE STEWARDS OF THE JOCKEY CLUE.

My Lords and Gentlemen,7-Were I not perfectly satis-
fied that the appeal I am about to make would bo indul-
gently received, and not suffer from misconstruction, I
should shrink from the grave responsibility of importuning
you upon the subject respecting which I am about to ad-
dress you. That subject, my lords and gentlemen, is the
distressed condition of our metropolitan hospitals.
It has been made a matter of severe reproach to me, as a
member of Tattersall's of 20 years' standing, that out of the
vast sums won and paid over as racing stakes, amounting,
in the year 1859, to nearly £200,000, not one farthing, as
far as the public aro aware, has ever been applied to the
aid of our London hospitals. It is admitted, with as much
wit as truth, that charity is like gratitude, and frequently
shuns the light, and I do not for one moment dispute that
many connected with the Turf, in their individual capaci-
ties, contribute largely and generously to charitable ob-
jects ; but that the vast fund alluded to yields one six-
pence to alleviate the appalling distress and misery of the
helpless and homeless sick of London, I do not believe.
How urgently a portion of this fund is needed may be seen
from the eloquent appeals made by the indefatigable secre-
taries of our hospitals in their annual reports, exhibiting
their bitter struggles with an increasing expenditure for
the relief of gaunt poverty and fell disease. Theirs is no
statement of fabled suffering—no delusive tale of sickly
sentimentality, but the inexorable logic of facts, the stern
realities of life in their most appalling character. The six
hospitals which I have purposely selected, after due deli-
beration, are St. George's, Hyde-park-corner; St. Mary's,
Paddington ; Charing•cross, Strand ; King's College,
Lincoln's-inn-fields ; the Free Hospital, Gray's-inn-road ;
and the London, Whitechapel. Now, gentlemen, cannot
something be done for these glorious receptacles, with their
large and augmenting masses of suffering ? Shall a fund,
which at this moment may fairly be calculated at £200,000,
and which may probably ere long reach a quarter of a mil-
lion, contribute nothing ?
To whom can I better appeal than to you ? In a ques-
tion of such magnitude I can only submit it to those who
can estimate its value, and reason on its importance. You
form one of the most powerful and influential corporate
bodies of this realm—your voice is potential to succour and
to save. I ask you, therefore, to allocate a portion—a
mere per-tentage—of this large sum to the purpose I have
but crudely adverted to. You will by so doing neither en-
courage idleness nor pamper sensuality and vicious ex-
penditure. I ask you not "to listen with credulity to the
whispers of fancy," when I solemnly assure you that not
one farthing deposited on these sacred altars is alienated
unrighteously from its original purpose, not an ounce of
bread wasted, but garnered scrupulously for solace and
nutriment, the whele presided -over,by watchful adminis •

men who shed lustre upon one of the most arduous profes-
sions that ever taxed the brain and intellect to adorn science

—undeviating messengers of healing and mercy, unwearied
in their patient and skilful efforts.
My lords, there is a very trite Asiatic proverb that a man
need not mind being pelted with salt if he have no sores.
Now, with respect to the Turf in relation to these hospitals,

I feel that there is a sore—an ulcer—and the sooner it is
healed, not filmed over, the better. To me it is personally
humiliating, and I would willingly endure much inconve-
nience and sacrifice if I thought I could humbly assist in
effacing this blot from the racing community.
Here, gentlemen, let me respectfully express my deep re-
gret that this subject has not a more gifted interpreter.
But sure I am that the high feeling and urbanity so pre-
eminently characteristic of your honourable body will kindly
accept this suggestion on its merits, and not allow the in-
significancy of the individual, nor the feebleness of the
advocate, to weigh against your benevolent resolves.

Confident in the hope, therefore, of your lordships' co-
operation, I venture to make you the following proposi-
tion :

The summer meeting at Epsom, where the highly
coveted " blue riband" of the Turf is contended for, is
regarded as the groat metropolitan festival. The net amount
of stakes for the Derby and Oaks I put:as follows—.£s,ooo
and £4,000—£9,000 in round numbers ; 10 per cent, upon
this would produce £9OO. Now, if you will afford me
your valuable and influential support to secure and perpe-
tuate annually this amount, either by way of resolution in
full council—or requisition submitted by your courteous
and efficient officers, Messrs, Weatherby, for signature, to
the owner of each starting horse, cn the morning of the
race, I solemnly engage myself, at the ensuing summer
meeting, to hand over to those gentlemen, Messrs.
Weatherby, through Messrs. Ransom, Bouverio, and Co.,
Pall-mall East, a sum equal to such allocations of 10 per
cent. on the Derby or Oaks Stakes, to be immediately paid
over to the treasurers of those hospitals; and should your
lordships' powerful and kind intervention succeed in allo-
cating 10 per cent. upon both those races,'my contribution
shall be equal to one thousand guineas ; for having brought
the child to the font, it is only manly and right that I
should do my part, and deposit with him my humble tri-
bute and best wishes (with your fostering care) for his
future growth, expansion, and welfare. I have now con-
cluded my appeal, which I earnestly recommend to your
lordships' high approval; and exalted indeed will be
the honour of being permitted to associate myself with
yonr distinguished body in so glorious a work.—With
much respect, JOSEPH BOND.

Queen's-road, Glo'ster Gate, N.W., Sept. 1860.

P.S.—The statistics relative to the present distressed
condition of the six hospitals named are ample and incon-
trovertible ; and I wish it to be distinctly understood that
my proposition involves the allocation of the fund men-
tioned, as well as my inauguration fee, solely to the per-
manent endowment of those institutions.