A Plea for a Useful Trotter 309 



brings in its wake much betting and gambling. The running horse or 

 thoroughbred has become merely a card in a game of chance. The 

 harness horse, on the other hand, is still admired as an individual. As 

 long as the public interest is centered on the horse rather than on the 

 betting, and as long as the individual horse remains an attractive ob- 

 ject at the races, a bright future for the American harness horse is 

 assured. It has ever been my opinion that harness racing or speed 

 contests could and should be conducted entirely without any public 

 betting system, because for such events should be enlisted the best 

 element of society. Throngs of women and children will then grace 

 the exhibitions with their delightful presence, and your strict business 

 man will unbend and be less critical in his judgment of legitimate, 

 clean sport. It may be argued that betting, or taking a chance on the 

 outcome of an event, is inherent in human nature. Differences of 

 opinions and the conceit of one's judgment are the elements that 

 underlie this spirit of chance; but to arouse this human trait to con- 

 tinual action by a system of which men make a business, is to under- 

 mine all honest labor and enterprise. It is this "business" (?) of 

 betting that has made continuous racing possible. Continuous racing 

 is an evil like immoderate drinking, and there is no doubt that the 

 "merry-go-round" across our Bay here was largely responsible for 

 much crime, and especially for the numerous embezzlements occurring 

 in this community. 



The consequent prejudice against all racing hits harness contests 

 as well. The only way to gain the favor of the general and the better 

 public is to abolish all systems of betting. Out here in the Far West, 

 where matters in general are still a bit "wild and woolly," gambling still 

 holds sway, and the running horse often shares the track with the 

 harness horse, much to the latter's detriment. Continuous racing has 

 vitiated the people's taste for the trotter and pacer. This state has the 

 climate and the soil to produce the best type of a standard bred horse, 

 but distances are great between the important towns, and the popula- 

 tion comparatively thin, and railroad transportation slow, and inade- 

 quate entirely. In consequence, meetings are few and far between 

 like angels' visits ; and yet California has become famous for her trot- 



