Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1908-05-14
THE WAR ON RACING.
James B. Haggin Describes Its
Outcome if Successful.
DEATH TO THOR0UGHBREDS.
Veteran Turfman Declares Governor
Hughes Will Not Win Inc His Fight.
Predicts Great Wave of Gambling if
Racing Is Killed.

| FredIcts 1reat wave OF 1anpiln9 W
Racing Is Killed.
James Il. Haggin, one of the most
| prominent horse breeders in the world
and a veteran turfman, at his resi-
dence in New York the other evening
York American the following interview
on the future of horse racing in Amer
| lea:
81 do not believe that Governor
Hughes will be successful in his ef-
forts TO end horse racing in the state
of New York To my mind, there is
! little doubt that horse racing could
not continue without the accompany
ing freedom which now permits man
to make a wager on his favorite horse.
The end of racing means the end of
the thoroughbred horse.
''While the governor of this the
greatest state of the Union is using
all his personal influence to end horse
racing and make the thoroughbred an
animal of the past Japan is preparing
| for the thoroughbred and racing.
Japan has learned and all cavalry
officers know that an efficient cavalry
in country is dependent upon plen-
tiful supply of thoroughbred horses.
Realizing Japan's need in this respect,
| the Japanese government has sent
scores of men to this country TO take
! positions upon breeding farms and
study the racing situation. | have
four or five Japanese now upon my
| farm who have been sent by their gov
ernment to study the best means of
obtaining for their country the proper
! kind of horses to supply the cavalry
need. These men realize that our sys-
! TEN of racing makes possible the rails
! ing of thoroughbreds. and l expect to
see Japan adopt racing within another
year or two Already l have sold more
| than one dozen stations to Japan, and
| other breeders have also made sales.
~ cavalry horse must have thor
oughbred strain in him. Work horses
or family horses will not do. and, as
have said. the breeding of thorough
breds will stop with the stopping of
racing. \ thoroughbred as yearling
costs his owner Mt least $500 for feed
and special care. This expense could
not be met by any breeder If it was
not for the outlet afforded by racing.
''The high prices obtained for the
cream of the thoroughbreds for racing
purposes makes possible the raising of
the hundreds of other thoroughbreds
that pass into general use. | paid $70,-
600 for the horse Watercress Mt pub
lie sale August BelLIont paid S125,000
for the English racer Rock Sand, and
the Newcastle stable paid $4,000 for
Adam. The Argentine Republic paid
S150.0O0 for Ormonde
"The thoroughbred farms of the
country represent hundreds of millions
of dollars In my district in kentucky
alone the breeding farms represent
$25,000,O00. 1t is my belief that all
these farms will be given up and turn
ed to less expensive purposes if racing
is killed.
zone thing | would like to say, and
that is that there has been no fund
raised to attempt to influence legisla-
ton in favor of racing. If an effort
had been made TO raise fund of any
kind for legitimate expenses. legal ad-
vice or anything of the sort. | know l
would have been one of the first men
asked to contribute ! have not been
asked to give one dollar, and so | feel
positive there is no fund of any kind.
let alone corruption fund. in exist
euce
Despite this knowledge | read every
day in some newspapers of fund of
hundreds of thousands of dollars being
used to influence legislation. | frankly
declare such a fund to be myth.
"If Governor Hughes really wishes
to strike at gambling he will be obliged
to begin with almost every private
house. No man or woman can go out
to dinner nowadays without promptly
being asked to take a hand at bridge.
The losses of n night at bridge will be
greater than the person would lose
with a weeks constant Ill fortune at a
race track.
There will always be gambling of
some kind There is less of it Mt n race
track than in many other ways. Men
and women like to tempt fortune.
"As ] said, | do not believe that rae
ing viii be stopped. If the governor
should secure his wish, however, it
would be safe to say that wave of
gambling would sweep over the state
the like Of which has never been seen.
The men and women forbidden by law
to openly tempt fortune would swarm
to hidden places. 1t is impossible to
legislatc out personal inclinations.
"The farming districts are not op-
posed to horse racing. The sentiment
among the farmers undoubtedly favors
the game. They know how they profit
by the demand for horses and the bene-
fits to their country fairs.
1T would be a severe blow to the
country at large if Governor Hughes
should be able because of his personal
wishes to abolish racing. The thor
oughbrcd would disappear quickly, and
q sudden call on the nation, necessitat-
Ing the use of horses. would find US be-
hind all the civilized nations of the
earth.
Il do not know of another civilized
nation on earth where the officials do
not recognize this fact All other civ
lllzed nations encourage racing and pro-
vide in one way or another for the uni
VprS1l 1acira Of s,paototnr, 90 ,oa;nrw