Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1908-05-15

scores of men 10 this country 10 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
Hind OF horses to supply the cavalry
need These men realize that our sys-
TEN OF racing makes possible the rails
Ing of thoroughbreds, and I expect to
See Japan adopt racing within another
year or two. Already have sold more
than one dozen stations 10 Japan. aud
other breeders have also made sales.
"A cavalry horse must have thor
oughbred strain In him. Work horses
or family horses will not do. and. as I
have said. the breeding OF thorough
breds Will stop with the stopping OF
racing. A thoroughbred as a yesrling
costs his owner at least $500 for feed
and special care. This expense couid
not he met by any breeder II il 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 thorough byeds
that pass into general use | paid s70.-
0O0 for the horse Watercress AT pub
lie sale. August Belmont paid Sl25V0
for the English racer Rock Sand. and
the Newcastle stable paid $4,000 for
Adam. The Argentine Republic paid
Sl50000 for Ormonde.
THE thoroughbred farms OF the
country represent hundreds OF millions
of dollars. In my district In Kentucky
alone the breeding farms represent
S2o.O000o0. Ii is my belief that all
these farms will he given up and turn
ed TO less expensive purposes II racing
is killed
One 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. II an effort
bad been made to raise fund OF any
kind for legitimate expenses. legal ad-
vice or anything Of the sort, | know
would have been one Of the first men
asked to contribute. have not been
asked TO give one dollar, and 80 | feel
positive there Is no fund OF any kind,
let alone corruption fund. In exist
ence
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 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 60 out
TO dinner nowadays without promptly
being asked to take "a hand at bridge
The losses of a night at bridge will be
greater than the person would lose
with a weeks constant III fortune at
race track.
There will always be gambling of
some kind. There is less of it at rnce
track than in many other ways. Men
and women like to tempt fortune.
''As | said, do not believe that rae
ing will 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
legislate 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 he a severe blow to the
country at large If Governor Hughes
should be able because Of his personal
wishes TO abolish racing The thor
pughbred would disappear quickly and
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
ilized nations encourage racing and pro-
vide in one way or another for the uni
verSal desire of spectators Of racing to
make their wagers."