266 RACING. 



serious indeed that it is hardly ever resorted to. It means 

 posting the name of the culprit in any conspicuous place decided 

 on by his judges, and certainly in the Rooms at Newmarket 

 and Tattersall's ; it means also reporting him to the Stewards 

 of the Jockey Club ; he is branded for life, and if he has any 

 shred of self-respect left, he never more attempts to appear on 

 a racecourse, or if he does, is liable at any moment to summary 

 ejectment but he is at the same time deprived of all in- 

 ducement to pay ; though the wheel of fortune should in time 

 bring him affluence, and plenty wherewith to satisfy his cre- 

 ditors, and to render him indifferent to the loss of what may 

 be owing to him yet the stigma remains ; he has been posted, 

 and he has lost his status on the Turf. The ring know this 

 well enough, and they know also that in many instances it 

 would not only be unwise but unjust to post a man who is 

 sure ultimately (though mayhap not within the specified year) 

 to be able to pay, and equally sure to pay as soon as he is 

 able ; thus starting from admirable premisses, they arrive at 

 a somewhat false conclusion, and never, or hardly ever, post 

 or declare anybody, however wanton and hopeless his default 

 may be. 



This system of ' sentence deferred ' answered well enough 

 so long as those in actual if not in official default abode by the 

 spirit of the law, and were content to suffer the fine if only 

 an extension of the grace-term might be allowed them ; but 

 cases have already happened which the Newmarket Committee 

 fear will recur with alarming frequency, where men have simply 

 ignored their creditors till such time as it was more convenient 

 to pay than to remain outside, and on paying, demanded in 

 turn payment in full of money justly forfeited by the Turf statute 

 of limitations, alleging in support of the monstrous claim, 

 that never having been declared defaulters they were legally 

 exempt from the penalty attaching to that position ! ! 



It is therefore probable that one of the earliest amendments 

 made in the code will be by the omission of the word * declared ' 

 in the first line of Rule 18. 



