BETTING. 265 



It has, however, a special power of holding impromptu 

 meetings on racecourses when called upon by the stewards ; 

 drumhead courts-martial, whereat cases of disputed bets' and 

 of default in bets may be speedily adjudicated on, an arrange- 

 ment which has much terror for evil-doers, who might other- 

 wise by dexterous manoeuvring defy for many weeks those 

 whom they have defrauded. 



It is said that the joint committees are about to appoint 

 delegates thoroughly to overhaul and revise the Rules of Bet- 

 ting, of which No. 1 8 seems to stand in urgent need of a simple 

 amendment. 



At present it runs thus : 



If a declared defaulter (the italics are not in the book, but are 

 intended to call attention to the point) does not satisfy the claims 

 of his creditors within twelve months, he shall not be entitled to 

 receive any debts which may be due to him for the race in which 

 he was in default ; but if his debts are paid within the prescribed 

 time, viz., ' one year,' i.e. 365 days, inclusive of the day when 

 the money was won, the Committee will support his just claims to 

 receive payment from his debtors. 



Nothing could be in intention fairer than this ruling, for a 

 man is hereby de facto given a whole year wherein to discharge 

 his betting liabilities, with full right within that time to exact 

 payment of such sums as may be owing to him ; though he 

 may not, as a declared defaulter, appear in the interim on any 

 racecourse ; while if he fails to fulfil these comparatively easy 

 conditions, he is justly fined for his non-compliance, by the 

 forfeiture of money which otherwise he would have received ; 

 but the little word declared has recently caused considerable 

 complication, and enabled the more unscrupulous of the sharp 

 division to drive the traditional coach -and-four through this 

 enactment. It has already been shown that bookmakers who 

 are the sufferers in ninety-nine out of a hundred of these cases 

 are extremely lenient to their debtors ; this in a great mea- 

 sure out of good nature, but also partly from self-interest ; for 

 to declare a man a defaulter is a very serious proceeding, so 



