St. Paul daily globe., 1886-01-18
MIR. GRATTAN SPEAKS.
He Evidently OverEOOks the Con-
stitutiOn and Relies on a Rule.

StitutiOn and Relies on a Is ute'
Mr.. NJ. T. Grattan publishes a card in
the Chicago Breeders Gazette of last week,
Ii which he unnecessarily goes out of his
way to make some personal reflections.
When a person is the most confident that
he is right he is then the most liable TO be
mistaken, and it appears to US that Mr..
Grattan is in that position. III the first
place this department of the GLOBE has
never made any remark about the matter OF
the rule referred to that would warrant Mr..
Grattan in referring to it. He has probably
confOunded the Farmers Advocate with the
GLOBE. This, however, is not very ma
terial. What we desire to do is to point out
where, in our opinion, Mr.. Grattan has
fallen into error. His card is as follows:
The horse editor of the st. Paul GLOBE is
not blessed with good memory and he does
not take the trouble 10 consult the authorities
when he writes. Upon page l6 of the Con-
stitution and Bylaws of the Minnesota Trot-
ting and Pacing Horse Breeders may be found
the following: ''Sec. 6. Only horses bred and
raised in Minnesota by members, or the get
of stations owned or stood by .mbers, shall
be eligible to entry "
/ endeavored to get the rule changed so
to read, foaled in Minnesota, in order that Mr..
Kathan's Stiles might compete, as this
youngster was got in Iowa and foaled in Min
nesota. B~iug refused this reasonable re-
quest ! Withdrew from the association, which
permitted Mr.. Finl1e's colt, got in New York
and foaled in Minnesota, to compete in direct
opposition TO the terms of the RI g. If he
keeps the money it is 81 ply because the
owners of the other colts do not inforce their
legal rights. Now, then, without any change
of section Of rule l q resolution is adopted
according just what i asked. But which will
govern, the rule or the resolution Has it
been forgotten that there are rules? 1t would
seem so. and therefore it becomes my duty to
snatch moment from the work which
brought me here to Washington to remind the
GLOBE and its readers of the fact that a
simple resolution does not repeal a rule, while
the existence of both will lead to further en-
tanglements and misunderstandings For my
part believe now that for the sake of har-
mony, when section Of rule is repealed,
that the rule of the Northwestern association
had better be adopted. NJ. L. g.
Mr.. Grattan, in the above, quotes rule 6.
to show that ''Only horses bred and raised
in Minnesota" should be eligible in certain
Mr.. Finkle's colt got in New York
and fOaled in Minnesota, was allowed to
compete in direct opposition to the
terms of the rule. Mr.. Grattan even goes
so far as to say that if Mr.. Finkle ''keeps
the money 1t is simply because the owners
of the other colts do not enforce their legal
rights" Here is where Mr.. Grattan has
made his mistake. The entry of Mr..
Finkle's colt did not in any way come un-
der or depend upon this rule. The rule did
not apply to him or his colt. Mr.. Finkle's
colt was allowed to trot in Minnesota,
under Article VI, Section |, of the Mime
sofa association, which reads as follows:
Section l. AT least one general meeting
shall be held under the auspices of this asSo-
citation in each year. at such date and places
as shall be announced by the executive COM
mittee. Entries TO be confined to geldings of
five years old and under, and to mares and
stations of any age, owned, bred or foaled in
Minnesota previous to this organization, by
members of this association, or stations or
the get of stations owned or stood by mem
bers.
Mr.. Finkle complied with all that is re-
quired by this section of the constitution.
His colt was owned by him previous to the
organization of the Minnesota association,
and Mr. Finkle is and then was member
of the association. The situation of Mr..
Finkle and his colt and also the situation
of MI. Sherwood, who has his breeding
farm just over the line in Iowa. were both
canvassed when the association was formed.
and both gentlemen were admitted and their
stock was made eligible to the races. This
was done by the constitution itself. (See
article " for Mr.. Sherwood and article VI,
quoted above, for Mr. Finkle's Lord Mel
son. The rule quoted by Mr.. Grattan is
simply rule, and was made after the con-
stitution was adopted and for the purpose
of declaring what horses should thereafter
be eligible. Those present at the first meet
ing when the constitution was adopted had
to start somewhere, and they then declared
in their constitution that Mr.. Sherwood
might become a member. the same as though
his farm was located in Minnesota. At the
same time they declared that Lord Nelson
should be elegible to the races. This, then,
was the starting point. with Sherwood in
and Finkle's colt in. The association then
declared what horses should thereafter be
eligible. The whole point is that the rule
quoted by Mr.. Grattan does not apply to
Nfr. Finkle's colt. as that animal was made
eligible by the constitution, which is above
this rule, anyway, and was adopted before
the rule was.