Los Angeles herald., 1908-05-04
'HORSESO OR MEN,
THEME OF SERMON
PASTOR PREACES ON RACE
TRACK EVIL
POINTS OUT DUTY VOTERS OWE
CITY
Dishonest Practices Commented on by
Rev William Horace Day in
Address at First congre-
qational Church

"Cursed be he that maketh the
blind wander out of his way" from
the book of Deuteronomy was the text
of sermon on "Horses or Men,"
preached at the First Congregational
church yesterday morning by the pas
tor, Rev. William Horace Day.
"When we permit a pool selling race
track we cause those who do not see
whittier 1t leads to wander, and we fall
under that curse" said DIR. Day. "The
only reason for the existence of this
modern gambling device, which is not
equally valid for the lucrative sport
of highway robbery, is the plea that
the race track has bettered the breed
of horses. If this were true we should
be making horses good by making men
bad. Governor Hughes Is busy forcing
New York to face the issue upon
which l am speaking.
Recreation is part OF my creed.
Clean sport is one of the best means
of recreating the weary brain, but
when you have to make men foul be-
fore you can make the horses fleet
you have lowered the speed record at
| too great cost.
1.-THE modern race course cannot run
without the betting ring Its patrons
go to gamble, and the profits depend
| unon the pool selling.
you do not manage race tracks to
better the horses any more than the
gambler buys the roulette wheel to
study the laws of motion.
1.-THE whole enterprise is rotten from
top to bottom. have repeatedly been
told that an honest race is never run
at public racing resorts.
Tips Dishonest
"Tips on the races are no less dis
honest. In one series examined out of
1929 named as winners 3199 lost. In
another group studied S98 were named
as winners and TIT lost. At the race
track the horse is always bettered at
the expense of the man. When the
city was facing the question concerning
Ascot park-the question Of horses or
men-we were urged to permit the
| races because 1t made market for
so much hay and labor.
mo one ever added UP the expense
account. The text of good business en-
| terprise Is not the gross receipts, but
how much receipts exceed outlay. Even
Lucky Baldwin would prefer as bank
clerk the young man who would choose
| Christian Endeavor rather than the
race course. Ascot and Santa Anita
| have cost the business interests of this
! city great sums. The last Saturday of
| the races this winter one bank en-
ploye, we are told, took $1,000 of the
| banks money and lost it. He returned
to the bank took all he could get and
| fed. You would be startled II you were
to make a list Of the business institu-
! tions in this city which have suffered
! this kind of loss. II we had been able
to get our law from the legislature at
Sacramento last session these men
would not be fugitives from justice
and little 10-year-old girl with heart
broken wife and mother would not be
hiding their heads in shame because
we as a state had suffered the blind to
be made to wander while we voted
| for horses instead of men.
The Battle for the Man
"In spite of repulses the battle goes
on. The struggle in New York is hot.
The constitution had been amended to
prohibit all forms of gambling, but
the legislature, yielding to the pressure
of the corrupt interests, passed law
permitting race track gambling. Gov
ernor Hughes, like President Roose-
velt, has many times committed polit-
ical suicide by taking up the cause of
righteousness.
1.-THE lower house in the New York
legislature passed bill which car
ried out the constitution and the up
per house voted 25 to 25 and the per-
nicious law stood.
"One senator had just died and Sem
ator Cassidy voted for the horse in
stead of for the man. His vote was
determined at the last minute by a
telegram from his congressman in
Washington reading: Better not sup
port governor on race track BILL 1t
turned out that a tool of the race
track interests was in the telegraph
office who inserted the not The
governor will call special session a
week from Monday and 1t looks as If
New York would vote against the
horse and for the man.
"Our California Anti-Race Track
league proposes to band together the
voters of California who will vote for
men instead of horses. This form of
the gambling cancer has spread itself
through much of the body polite and
it has allied itself with many forms of
| legitimate business, and now it is a
business proposition. This whole mat
| ter hangs upon the fidelity of the
| Christian business men of the state.
For which woll you yote-'horses or
men?'"
RHkAI5c nATu nE nlfE