202 A MIRROR OF THE TURF. 



as being illegal. Probably by an interpretation 

 of the law there is no such thing as legal betting ; 

 it has hitherto been held that bettino- of any 

 kind is illegal. Bets are not recoverable at law; 

 but bets made by one party who acts as agent 

 for another party can be sued for, and may be 

 recovered ; at any rate the person who instructs 

 an agent to make a bet on his behalf can be 

 sued in a court of law for the amount of the 

 stake. It surely is reasonable to argue that 

 if betting for ready money be bad^ betting on 

 credit is worse. Everything points to the proba- 

 bility of betting when it began being for ready 

 money only, and that as a rule stakes on both 

 sides were deposited pending the event to be 

 decided. Why should it not be so to-day ? 



With the advent of credit betting began the 

 reign of the " blacklegs," the nefarious frauds 

 and swindles, the poisonings and pullings, the 

 watering and watching of horses, with which men 

 who interest themselves in the sport of kings are 

 now so familiar. Judging from the tone of 

 recent legislation, what our parliamentarians are 

 wroth about is, that betting has become a 

 business requiring the intervention of that middle 

 man, the obnoxious " bookmaker," but it is really 

 better that it should be so, if betting on horse- 

 racing is to be allowed to be continued in any 

 shape. Why should men who will never cease 

 to bet so long as horse-racing goes on be driven 

 to bet one with another, which is the worst form 

 of speculation ? Who can mention any more 

 humiliating spectacle than that furnished by a 

 ** noble " sportsman " doing " his friend over the 

 Derby, or some other race } In reality that is 



