THE TURF AND SOME REFLECTIONS 



recommend, and are enriched by the news of racing 

 which they denounce. Little can be said against 

 the general policy of the legitimate organs of the 

 Turf. Their writers know their business. Their 

 articles are readable. They steer the student 

 through all the dreary intricacies of varying form, 

 and comment to their own satisfaction upon " in 

 and out " running. True, they occasionally elevate 

 a trainer into an oracle and exalt a jockey to the 

 dignity of a hero. But, generally speaking, their 

 gospel is against gambling and their message is 

 for fair play ; and they rarely deviate from loyalty 

 to the rule of constituted authority. They would 

 certainly have found a reader in Horace Walpole 

 vv^ho wrote to a correspondent : "I read the 

 part of newspapers I used to skip, and peruse 

 the list of Sweepstakes, not the articles of in- 

 telligence." 



It is sometimes questioned whether the Turf is 

 in any danger at the hands of the Legislature. 

 There have been times when Nonconformist 

 politicians in Parliament have talked glibly of 

 confiscatory measures. The egregious Mr. John 

 Burns once recommended the ploughing up of 

 race-courses, and Labour members have displayed 

 hostility to racing apparently because it is a popular 

 amusement. The Chancellor of the Exchequer (Mr. 

 Lloyd George) in his best manner says that his 

 opponents hurry back from Ascot to vote against 

 him. Nevertheless it is difficult to imagine even 

 this Government embarking on a policy of racing 

 repression. It is but the other day that Mr. Lloyd 

 George indulged in a considerable gamble. He 

 acted on a tip given him by one of his stable 



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