The Washington herald., 1915-01-03

Ii is "A REGULARITY OF the professional
refurmer that he must always have some
field of activity. Reforming is just as
necessary to the species as food and drink
are to the ordinary man. If he Is not
arranging how the rest OF mankind shaIl
deport itself generally he is endeaVorinS
to adjust the amusements OF his fellows
to accord with his own notions Of what
these ought 10 be Sometimes his sense
OF public duty carries him into the field
OF sports. and he hlithely designates what
branches Of sports are good for the peo-
pie and what branches are Corrupting TO
the morals Of a community. II his mere
designation fails to check those ne re-
CARDS as improper he promptly spends
his time lat SO much day. in obtaining
legislation to stamp out the kinds OF
sports he thinks are objectionable.
This is not a treatise on reforming.
professional or otherwise. though the
foregoing remarks may lead to that be-
lief 1t is merely to call attention to the
odd phases that reform waves in connec-
ton with sporting affairs frequently take
Six or seven years ago the center OF at
tack was horse racing and the betting
incident to that sport. 1t was country
wide campaign. reaching from the Pa
Ciic TO the Atlantic Today it is boxing
that is being hammered in various quar-
ters. with the reformers almost as busy
in their little way as they were when the
thoroughbred was the target. Caluor
has just scored a clean decision over the
sport of the ring, and the CampaIgners,
taking heart at this success. are thinking
about extending the scope Of their oPer-
ations.
Attack on Racing Has Ended.
Two reform waves at one time. in q
field so limited as the sporting world Of
f,- ha 7nnnE
efficient Of tho profession, and so the as
sault on racing has ceased. There was
a time when parsons identified with the
turf believed that 50 much harm had
been done that tho spoI would never re-
cover from the blow. With race tracks
closed down in California. Illinois. Lo%!si-
ana. Florida and New York. the main
centers OF the breeding and racing in
dustry the splendid thoroughbred estab-
Iishments that had b, built up through |
a long period Of exhaustive study and
Improvement W re- TiTped aDart and the |
horses scattered to the four corners OF
the world. Racing Is a dead issue was |
the comment on" heard cvCry day. ''lf
the sport is ever DCrmitt'd again there |
will bo no horses of any class to send 10 |
the races.
Tho Shrrwde~t of tUrfmeu felt that the
game had hoen dealt a blow from which |
II might never recover. But they. like
the less sk,DtiyaI have now come to see
that the thOroughbrcd industry is pos
sessnd OF rare rccUDcrative qualities and |
that it can speedily regain its old Dlac"
If permitted to pick mp without further
interruption. In one wear racing has
come back with a great bound and is
again or the high road to prosperity.
And il has come back without the aid |
of GamblinC-a thing that, has served to
unset a wcII-dehntd theory that betting
was the most important part "f the sport
Racing is now being huIlt ON new fOun-
datIOn, with tnC features that We're the
cause Of criticism eliminated and tho
proper influences working to rhahiIi-
tate il.
The Most ForccTuI Argument Of All.
No argument offered in support Of
horse racing and The 'ontiruan"n Of tn"
fine lines Of the American thoroughbred (
has been more c0uNluciUC than that /
brought out through the Europe an war
which has disclosed a marked scarcity of
horses in this country. Breeders arc au-
thorlty for the statement that = call for
horses such as has dcvelOTcd since the
war began could easily have b, en- an
swered by the uitcd Stato- six or seven
years ago. 4 Iamcntablo scarcity OF
stock has been revealed. however. as
result Of the present demand from Euro
I.ean countries. and II has cvon hcon
found that Unclo sam would d" IN A bad
way for army horses himself if occasion
arosr that he required large number.
Indeed. 1t j. not stretching a Dolnt to
Hkcn thu. .unprcrareduos~ Of III" country
i'm this rf&7cct TO the iu"f'ioicncy dIsrlOs-
ed along other lines
II has been something Of a shock to
those who have worked to stamp out
horse racing to ind that the country has
been so stripped Of horses that the nit
cd states army would h. severely haudi-
osuptd for rcmouUtS In tho event Of war
tn" killing Of IN" suo't meant the smash
ing to atoms of Tho breeding industry
generally and tn" rnus,' .uont cutting off
of the sources "r rrndu. ton Of army
horses. The r'form waN, was carried
just a hrt too far The reiormcrs them
selves .'cogulZc This nov
Revival of sport is Countrywide.
Every reform Wa. runs it, course soon
or or later There has been H slackcninE
Of the luos 70 Enrjing "a, ing in most
parts Of tn, country Chnggc ts again in
a receptive mood ,'garduC the sport.
New Orleans r having racing again. Mis- ,
souri, is lining Up Ir favor Of il and New
York has como strongly TO its support.
The turning or sentiment is practically
country wide and is almost sure to result :
in the restoration Of the sport at tho var-
Gus points wh,g' il once held sway. The