546 



THE NEW BOOK OF THE DOG. 



affecting their interests and the welfare 

 of the canine commnnity in general. From 

 time to time many recommendations of the 

 greatest importance have been sent np to 

 the committee for consideration, and much 

 useful legislation has resulted from their 

 suggestions. 



It now remains to gi\'e some account of 

 the Kennel government. This is vested 

 in a body of thirty-five gentlemen, the 

 general committee of the Kennel Club, 

 annually elected from the whole body of 

 members, with sub-committees for special 

 departments of work, such as Field Trials, 

 Finance, House, Show, Stud Book and 

 Challenge Certificates and Shows Regula- 

 tion. The general committee meet at 

 least twice a month, on the second and 

 fourth Wednesdays, sometimes oftener, the 

 meetings lasting from eleven o'clock in 

 the morning until six or seven o'clock in 

 the evening or even later. The Shows Re- 

 gulation sub-committee also usually meets 

 not less frequently than bi-monthly. The 

 amount of work which often has to be 

 transacted at these meetings can hardly 

 be estimated, even by readers of the reports 

 which appear in The Kennel Gazette, as 

 much of the business is necessarily of a 

 routine character. But besides this general 

 business, it frequently happens that appeals 

 or complaints have to be investigated, in 

 which important interests are involved, 

 and which require the very closest attention 

 to evidence or to detail on the part of the 

 committees. The general work of the 

 club is conducted by the secretary', with 

 the aid of an assistant secretary and a staff 

 of eighteen clerks. Some idea of the magni- 

 tude of the business transacted may be 

 gathered from the fact that the number 

 of letters received and requiring an answer 

 in a single day frequently reaches three 

 hundred. In addition, daily attention has 

 to be given to a large number of callers on 

 business connected with the various depart- 

 ments, many of whom require personal 

 interviews. This is only part of the ordinary 

 daily routine of the office. At special 

 periods of the year the work is greatly 

 increased in anticipation of the field trials, 



the annual show at the Crystal Palace, 

 the compilation of the Kennel Club Calendar 

 and Stud Book and the monthly issues of 

 The Kennel Gazette. A moment's consider- 

 ation of these particulars will certainly 

 convince any observer that the responsi- 

 bilities of the members of the committee 

 are very onerous, and that the Kennel Club 

 more than justifies its existence, and de- 

 serves the thanks of the canine world for 

 the \-ast amount of time and attention 

 which is ungrudgingly and unceasingly be- 

 stowed upon its behalf. 



One of the most important functions of 

 the Kennel Club is that which gives the 

 committee power of jurisdiction. In every 

 branch of sport which has the advantage of 

 being governed by a properly constituted 

 authority, with a code of rules for its guid- 

 ance, it has been found necessary to embody 

 a rule giving power to deal with cases of 

 fraudulent or discreditable conduct. The 

 necessity of such a rule is made apparent 

 by the records of the various governing 

 bodies, and the power to enforce decisions 

 must be absolute if sport is to be purged 

 of the scandals and malpractices which un- 

 fortunately still exist. 



The perusal of the official columns of 

 The Kennel Gazette will furnisir much food 

 for thought, and the most casual observer 

 of the administration of the law by the 

 authority governing dog-showing, must ad- 

 mit that a stringent penal rule is absolutely 

 indispensable if such practices as have 

 been alluded to above are not to be allowed 

 to increase and multiply to an extent which 

 would in a very short time relegate dog 

 showing and breeding to the position it 

 occupied prior to the foundation of the 

 Kennel Club. 



The power which a penal rule gi\"es to 

 authorities governing the various branches 

 of sport is very great — a power which can 

 damage the character of an individual, and 

 make him or her a person quite unfit to be 

 a member of any society whose aim it is 

 to m.aintain the purity of the sport it is 

 founded to uphold. To be " warned off " 

 by the authorities governing any form of 

 sport involves most unpleasant conse- 



