The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1895-10-25

and his majesty and his strength.
An instrument of Evil.
But what shall / say Of the effort
being made in this day on large scale
to make this splendid creature OF God,
this divinely honored being, an instru~
ment Of atrocious evil? l make no in
discriminate assault against the turf. l
believe in the turf if it can be conduct
ed on right principles and with no bet
ting There is no more harm in offering
a prize for the swiftest racer than there
is harm at an agricultural fair in offer
ing prize to the farmer who has the
best wheat. or to the fruit grower who
has the largest pear, or to the machlnlst
who presents the best corn thrasher, or
in school offering prize OF copy OF
Shakespeare to the best reader, or IN a
household giving lump of sugar to
the best behaved youngster. Prizes by
all means, rewards by all means That
is the way God develops the race. Re-
wards for all kinds of we'll doing. Heav-
en- itself is called a prize, "the prize
of the high calling of God in Christ Je-
sus. " So what is right in one direction
is right in another direction. And with
out the prizes the horses f1eetness and
beauty and strength will never be fully
developed. If it cost 81, 900 or $4,000
or $4,000 and the result be achieved,
it is cheap. But the sin begins where
the betting begins, for that is gambling,
or the effort to get that for which you
give no equivalent, and gambling,
whether on large scale or small scale,
| ought to be denounced of men as it will
be accursed of God. If you have won 80
cents Or So, 900 as wager, you had bet
ter get rid of it. Get rid of it right
away Give it to some one who lost in
bet, or give it to some great reforma-
/ tory institution, or if you do not like
that, 20 down to the river and pitch it
off the docks. You cannot afford to keep
it. 1t will burn hole in your purse, it
will burn hole in your estate, and you
will lose all that, perhaps 1000 times
more-perhaps you will lose all. Gam
bling blasts man or it blasts his chill
dren, generally both and all.
"Bookmaking."
What spectacle when at Saratoga,
or at Long Branch, or at Brighton
Beach, or at Sheepshead Bay, the horses
start, and in flash $50, 900 or 500, 900
change hands Multitudes ruined by
losing the bet, others worse ruined by
gaining the bet for if man lose in a
bet at a horse race, he may be discour-
aged and quit, but if he win the bet he
is very apt to go straight on to hehN
An intimate friend, a journals who
in the line of his profession investigated
this evil, tells me that there aye three
different kinds of betting at hors6xGes,
and they are about equally leprous-by
"auction pools, by French mutuals, "
by what is called "bookmaking GALL
gambling, all bad, all rotten with in
iquity. There is one word that needs to
be written on the brow Of every poolsell-
err as he sits deducting his or B per
cent, and slyly ringing up more tick
cts than were sold ON the winning horse
"a word to be written also on the brow
of every bookkeeper who at extra in
ducement scratches horse off OF the
race, and on the brow of every jockey
who slaokens pace that, according to
agreement, another may win, and writ
ten over every judges stand, and writ
ten ON every board of the surrounding
fences. That word is "swindlerp" Yet
thousands bet. Lawyers bet. Judges Of
courts bet Members of the Legislature
bet. Members of congress bet. Profess
ors Of religion bet Teachers and SUI
perintendents of Sunday schools, l am
told, bet Ladies bet, not directly, but
through agents. Yesterday and every
day they bet, they gain, they lose !, and
this summer, while the parasols swing,
and the hands clap, and the huzzas deaf
en-, there will be a multitude of people
cajoled and deceived and cheated, who
will at the races go neck and neck, neck
and neck to perdition.
Cultivate the horse by all means,
drive him as fast as you desire, provid
ed you do not injure him or endange1
yourself or others, but be careful and
do not harness the horse to the chariot
of sin. Do not throw your jewels OF
morality under the flying hoof. Do not
under tie preteXt of improving the horse
destroy a man. Do not have your NAME
put down in the ever increasing cata
logue of those who are ruined for both
worlds by the designations of the Amer
lean race course. They say that an hon
est race course is straight" track, and
that dishonest race course is ''crook'
ed" track-that is the parlance abroad
but l tell you that every race track sur
rounded by betting men and betting
women and betting customs is straight
track-I mean straight down Christ
asked in one of his gospels, lis not q
man better than sheep?" l say, yes,
and he is better than all the steeds that
with lathered TANKS ever shot around
the ring at a lace course. That is very
poor job by which man in order to gel
horse to come out full length ahead
of some other racer so lanes his owl
morals that he comes out a whole length
behind in the race set before him.
A Current Evil.
Do you not realize the fact that there
is a mighty effort ON all sides today tC
get money without earning it? That il
the curse of all the Cities it is the
| curse of America-the effort TO get