PROCEEDINGS IOWA FAIR MANAGERS ASSN. 159 



owners called the Harness Horse Association, and that associa- 

 tion is now quite strong; in fact, there was a meeting in Chicago 

 yesterday of that association at which four or five hundred men 

 attended. That association is working hand in glove with the 

 American Trotting Association and trying to improve racing 

 conditions. In the first place every track should be a member of 

 the parent association, and that association of course is the 

 American. There are several other things that the Harness 

 Horse Association is trying to do. They are trying to get every 

 owner of that association to race honestly, to not drop heats and 

 not try to avoid records and all that. And they are succeeding 

 admirably. I believe in Iowa you will all agree with me there 

 was more honest racing and less suppression of time than any 

 year since trotting has been organized. Now we w^ant to try to 

 make 1922 a little better than that. The thing we gentlemen of 

 the fairs have to see to is that we put better judges in the judge^' 

 stand. I don't believe we try hard enough to pick out men that 

 know something about racing. The average judge in the average 

 stand at the county fair is not a competent judge. But he is 

 possibly a brother secretary from the next county seat fair or 

 possibly a man that twenty years ago owned a race horse and is 

 not familiar with the rules ; he is not familiar with present day 

 conditions. He is an honest man, a good man, but it is a good 

 deal like the average fair secretary being elected president, if the 

 town is large enough, of the lawyers' club of his town, he would 

 not make a very good president to decide disputes among law- 

 yers. The same thing figures out at the race track. A lawyer 

 may be a very good lawyer, but he don't know anything about 

 judging a horse race. Try to get men in the stand that know 

 what they are doing; not that they w^ant to do right, but get 

 men in there that do right because they know how to do right. 

 Then you are stopping troubles and would have fewer cases com- 

 ing up before the board in the way of suppression of time. The 

 average horse owner is being educated now to not ask for it. 

 I will admit a good many of them still want it, but if you have 

 the right kind of judges in the stand they will not allow it, your 

 racing will be clean and snappy, and we all know that without 

 racing the county fair is not a success. People want education. 

 The average attendant of the county fair is supposed to be there 

 for education. But if you don't at the same time you give your 

 education give a little racing and attractions and that kind of 



