90 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



parent trotting associations, and that the charges imposed on them by the 

 railroads, feed men, draymen, and also by secretaries themselves, in the 

 way of entrances and suspensions, are unjust; and could be materially re- 

 duced if they were organized. One of their principal claims is that they 

 furnish the show, race for, in large part, their own money, and the fair 

 people keep the profits. Then, if a little bad luck strikes them and the 

 horse goes lame, or shows he cannot win, after being entered, and does not 

 appear, their claim is that their horses are always suspended by the as- 

 sociations and they are compelled to pay. On the contrary, if the associa- 

 tion figures that the next day is going to be a poor one, and the crowd 

 small, it can save itself from possible loss by declaring off the next day's 

 races, claiming that the track would not be safe, or giving some other ex- 

 cuse, and there is no redress for the horsemen. He will tell you he may 

 have shipped his stable there, a distance of several hundred miles, and 

 has been under heavy expense for the week, with no chance to race and 

 earn anything but all he can do is to submit, and move on to the next 

 town. I have heard these complaints, and many more, at every race 

 track I have visited this season and for several seasons past, and am not 

 surprised to learn that a call has been issued to the people that own and 

 race harness horses, to meet here in Chicago on Wednesday, December 

 18th, to discuss the advisability of forming a Protective Association. 



This call was issued November 1st, and contains the following: "14 

 points," and its declarations are as follows: 



THE 14 POINTS. 



1. No more racing for the horsemen's money. 



2. No more entrance money unless it is added to the purse. 



3. No deductions from money winners. 



4. No more declaring off when there is one horse ready to start. 



5. No more penalizing of a good horse by splitting the purse. 



6. No more 5% to enter and 5% from money winners. 



7. No more entertaining the public without fair compensation. 



8. No more robbery by draymen. 



9. No more robbery by feed men. 



10. No more robbery and inconveniences by railroads. 



11. No more leaky and unsafe stalls. 



12. No more penalizing by parent Trotting Associations without rep- 

 resentation. 



13. No more drunken grooms and drivers. 



14. No more unorganized sport. 



With your permission, I will take these up in the order in which they are 



presented. 



f 



No. 1. "No more racing for the horsemen's money." If point Number 2 

 is approved, it is obvious that there would be no force to point Number 1. 



No. 2. "No more entrance money unless it is added to the purse." I 

 think that a large majority of the members of the association present 

 here today will agree with me that harness racing is the greatest single 

 attraction that they have to offer their patrons. That it is the one thing 



