New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1895-02-24
BETTlNG AT NEWMARKET.
THE ATTACK OF TIE ANrI-GAMBLING
LEAGUE
NOW THE HOCKEY CLUB RULES THE ENGLISH
TURF-MANY MEMBERS STRONGLY
OPPOSED 10 BETTING.

=
OPPOSED 70 BETTING.
A,.houc, the leaders os tho Anti-Gambng
Jaaqua deserve n certain amount of credit for
,he snortsuanlike pluck which they displayed IL
Giving ot such very high game as the Jockey
oluh vet no one have ever supposed for
rooment that any success would attend their
c,en in this particular direction. True. the
Jockey Club is guilty of technical offence
against the letter of the anti-gambling law when
Il sanctions the presence cf bookmakers its
grounds at Newmarket we'll in the ring Of
other courses controlled by it, and when it goes
so far as to issue licenses to these gentry. even
though they do business only by word Of mouth.
Losses and winnings being settled every Monday
morning at Tattersalls. money never passes be-
tween bookmakers and bettors at the track. II
any bookmaker fails to pay he loses his license;
while a bettor wh) dos not make good the
amount of his lost bets is posted as a defauter'
At the same time il was preposterous to expect
that the magistrates Of Newmarket. before
whom the stewards of the Jockey Clnh were
summoned would venture 10 decide against an
institution to which the town as well as inc
whole Of the surrounding district Is indebted ior
whatever Importance and prosperity II ENJOY
ANY hesitation which nay have been ehter'"'"0"
IN the subject by the local justices must nave
vanished IN III. face of the public threats by
the Anti-Gambling League not to let the matter
rest with the proceedings against the thfee
stewards but 10 follow the convction OF inc Ia'-
tor ~, SECURING criminal indictments against each
individual member of the club. as equally guilty
of disobedience to the statutes against gambling
Now this would involve nothing less than the
arrest and app, arance in the prisoners pen at
the Newmarket Court of their Royal Iiighnesses
the Prince of Wales the Duke of York, the
~ loo CeneraliSSmO of the British
Army: the Duke OF Connaught and Prince
Christian of Schleswig- Hostein, as well as OF
two reiening sovereigns in the person Of King
Leopold of Belgium and the Duke Of Saxe-Coburg
and Gotha. Among the lesser lights OF the ciuo
are some ter dukes lalf dozen marquises
earls and viscount5 by the dozen; and last. but
not least the Lord Chief Justice Of the realm
and Sir Henry Hawki, $. the most eminent Judge
of the Supreme Court of the Kingdom punch
the chief London comic paper. quicker imam
rsual 10 perceive the hunor Of the situation
published in one of its recent issues cartoon
showing the appearance of the prisoners pen at
the Newmarket Court in the event of the league
obtaining indictments against all the members
n. the Jockey Club who from a technical point
Of view are clearly crminally liable to ar
rest and punishment the most humble OF
those poor fellows captured by the police IN the
raids upon the tenthrate betting clubs in the
cheap suburbs of London. The cartoon portrays
the future King of Great Britain and Emperor
OF India sitting in the dock usually occupied ny
fe,ons while beside him ore the Premier Lord
Rosebery royal princes great statesmen famous
adn,irals and generals and ermine-robed judges
The three stewards of the club for the present
year who have just been acquitted, are the
white-haired and comely featured Lord March,
eldest son and heir OF the Duke Of Richmond
and Gordon Lord Rendelsham and the Earl oil
Ellesmere all three more or less determine"
adversaries Of betting. they follow IN me
footsteps Of that grand old sportsman al
niral Rouse. who on one occasion. thlhk
IT was when Mr.. Chaplin landed about
100000 on Maccaroni and Hermit wrote
a letter to 1.-THE Times" in which he proposed
that any person winning more than 100000 on
one race should forfeit his winnings. and that any
member OF the Jockey Club who won more than
twice that amount should be expelled from mat
select body Processing the opinion that the
practice tends to degrade and demoralize what
they regard as the nOblest form OF sport u -
rather hard that they should, OF all people
in the world b. indicted by the Anti-Gamonng
League for infraction Of the law agans; betting
These three stewards Of the Jockey club con-
e,ituta ,be supreme racing tribunal Of the land
and from their decree there is no appeal. Racing
mon. high and low submit, TO its laws. and the
all the healthiest traditions Of the turf and are in
tho habit Of indorsing its decisions to such de-
y,ea that II for instance. the stewards warn
man off the Heath at Newmarket or post MIN as
a defaulter there is nothing left Tor MIN 10 no
save to emigrate. since he Is doomed 10 hopeless
ostracism not only by the rich and educated Dut
also by the masses. In fact, so inconsistent are
the English people that am convinced tha' 'he
Anti-Gambling League Itself, now ehgageh III
open warfare with the Jockey club, woud De
among the very first to give effect to inc de-
crees Of latter IN this respect THIS Is all the
more surprising when ii is remembered that 'he
Jockey Club possess : no charter dlherlhg III
that respect from the Jockey Cubs Of Vienna
and Paris: and 1t may safely be taken for
granted that as long as the Jockey Club as an in
stitution continues to tolerate betting and sits
in judgment upon those who fail to pay the
liabilities titus incurred L Will never receive that
charter which alone give it technically
legal status To become member Of this prl-
vate and exceedingly close corporation exercising
30 great "A power is one Of ihe most difhcult
things to achieve. Its members do not number
more than ninety most; az rule elections
Cnly take place TO fill vacancies caused by death
or resignation ana there is only one exception
made to this namely in favor OF the queens
master Of the buckhounds, who becomes mem
ber ex-ofCio. and retains MS cohhecuOh Win
the club oven after ceas'ng TO pc clgnltafy of
the royal household
The CLUB was founded in 1852 and In those
days its principal place Of meeting was at the
Star ana Garter in Pail Mall. 1t has no abode in
London. unless the room usually devoted to its
members at Tattersars be described as
such. When meetings held In town. they
sometimes take place at the Turf Club. ana on
other occasions again d Bodies. But the head-
quarters Of the club are on High-str Newmarket,
Just opposite the postoiiice, and whatever the |
building lacks IN appearance is made up by the |
prestige ana celebrity Of the men who congre-