Jan. 5, 1858. J 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



469 



THE AMERICAN KENNEL REGISTER. 



NEARLY five years ago the publication of the American 

 Kennel Register was begun. The. monthly was started 

 to fill a vacancy, to supply .a want, and its readers assure us 

 that it has accomplished much good and has satisfactorily 

 filled its field. It has beeu edited carefully and fearlessly, 

 has bowed before no clique, has had at heart always the true 

 interests of the clientele for whom it is published. It has 

 spoken its mind freely and has commented favorably or un- 

 favorably on the actions of people great aud small. 



Lately, however, it has not had much to say, it has seemed 

 to be muzzled. Why? 



The American Kennel 'Register was started for the regis- 

 tration of dog pedigrees, at a time when no such registra- 

 tion book existed in this country. It is a permanent record 

 of pedigrees, and of doings in the dog world in this and 

 other countries, but as the interest in dogs has increased, 

 as more pedigrees had to be registered, and more prize lists 

 of bench shows and field trials have bad to go on record, the 

 space for literary matter and for comment on passing events 

 has necessarily been cut down. 



It is true that the American Kennel Register is, first and 

 always, a stud book, intelligently and carefully edited, and 

 of the greatest possible value to breeders and to all persons 

 interested in dogs; but it is believed that it should keep up 

 the quota, of good reading matter of a high class, dealing 

 with subjects of special interest to dog men. Moreover, the 

 number of entries seems to be constantly on the increase, 

 and this indicates that even to make room for the pedigree 

 registry, an increase in size would have to be made before 

 long. 



• The publishers of the Regisler announce therefore that 

 with the commencement of the new volume for 18S8, the 

 ^American Kennel Register will be permanently enlarged to 

 twenty-four pages. Arrangements are being made to secure 

 ■as contributors to its pages the most emiuent specialists in 

 jail departments of dog lore on both sides of the Atlantic, 

 ?ind no effort will be spared to make the Kennel Register 

 what it has always been, the only complete and accurate 

 stud book published in America, and also to provide a fund 

 of interesting and exhaustive information about all breeds 

 of dogs. The publishers believe that with their facilities 

 this can be done. They further believe that the- dog men of 

 America will appreciate and support such efforts. The 

 \Amerlcan Kennel Register was not started as a money- 

 making scheme, but because it was believed that such a 

 publication was needed. It never has made any great 

 amount of money, yet there lias never been a year even from 

 the start when its account did not show a balance on the 

 right side of the ledger. Whatever money the publication 

 has made has been devoted to making the Regisler better 

 and more worthy of its constituency. This course, which 

 has proved to be the wisest in the past, will be pursued in 

 the future. 



Dog men and dog "matters in this country have fallen too 

 much into the hands of cliques and riugs, and. there, has 

 been too much working for private ends, too much good 

 fellowship, too much give and take, and not enough honesty, 

 not enough regard for the public interest. The dog world 

 needs two such fearless and independent journals as the 

 Forest and Stream and the American Kennel Register to 

 protect its interests and to fight the jobbery that is now so 

 rampant. f 



RULE NUMBER 2. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



Please place the Wacouta Kennels squarely on the record 

 as protesting against the recent action of the A. K. C, in 

 seeking to filch from the pockets of exhibitors the 50 cents 

 that they are to lie compelled to pay or else keep their dogs 

 at home, unless they have thought fit voluntarily to enter 

 their dogs in the so-called ''official" stud book. If entries 

 are to be cut down, as they will be by the enforcement of 

 this robbery rule, the future of dog shows in this country 

 will be a pretty poor one for some time to come. The local 

 exhibitor, the one Mr. Cugle says he wishes to lay tribute 

 upon most particularly, is the one who helps out the show 

 so far as the number of entries is concerned,' and is the one 

 least caring about a stud book; and the extra 50 cents is just 

 sufficient to make him give up the idea of entering. It is, of 

 course, a desirable thing that all good dogs should be en- 

 tered in a stud book; but to force any one to patronize any 

 one of the two that are published is going a little too far. It 

 is a a exercise of arbitrary authority that is repugnant to 

 every free man. The only other reason that could have sug- 

 gested the passage of such a ride, besides the desire to save 

 the so-called official from the death by dry rot, would be the 

 one that such a rule was in force in the English Kennel 

 Club. Now the two institutions have very little in common. 

 The English one is actually a club, with all that that 

 implies. It was organized in the early days of dog 

 shows in England, and had a limited authority at 

 first. There was no stud book in existence, and it 

 engaged in the praiseworthy work of issuing one, but 

 unlike the A. K. C, it had the means to pay for any losses 

 that might accrue from its enterprise. The compulsory 

 feature of the English club came without the objectionable 

 features of the recent ruling of the A. K. C. The English 

 club's position as the high court of dogdom came about by 

 degrees. Existing as an influential body, when societies for 

 the holding of dog shows were organized, so when agricul- 

 tural and other societies came to the conclusion that, it would 

 be well to hold a bench show in connection with their usual 

 exhibition they appealed to this influential body for help 

 and advice. As its sphere widened this body produced a 

 code of laws, and promised its aid in the enforcement of 

 them to clubs that would come under its authority. One of 

 the (pi id pro guos for this help was that these societies 

 should support the stud book of the club, by requiring exhibi- 

 tors to register their dogs. When this was seen to be in a 

 certain sense unjust the" rule was waived in "local classes." 

 In a small compact country like England the kennel club 

 and the exhibitor had closer relations than is possible in this 

 country, where distances and all the conditions of life are 

 different. There the kennel club committees had frequent 

 meetings, and an exhibitor could get his wrongs adjusted 

 without having to wait months, as in this country. _ The 

 exhibitor therefore had a feeling that by registering his dog 

 in the Kennel Club's stud book he was advancing his own 

 interests. 



The American Kennel Club is not a club in the proper 

 sense. It is not a body corporate, is not a responsible body, 

 and is not, therefore, a proper institution to conduct the 

 publication of a stud book. It is a mere association of clubs 

 with a revenue depending upon the number of its constituent 



parts, and with no means of legally collecting its dues if its 

 parts refuse to contribute. If its revenue is insufficient to 

 meet its expenses that is no justification of its attempt to 

 force a levy upon every one who wishes to show a dog, so as 

 to make its stud book pay a profit which is required to help 

 out the general expense of the A. K. C. 



There is a question in my mmd if the association known 

 us the American Kennel Club can legitimately engage in 

 the publication of a stud book without an amendment to 

 the constitution, for there is no provision that I can see that 

 gives it the power to contract the necessary debts incidental 

 to the prosecution of such a work, and in the event of its 

 utter pecuniary failure there can be no redress for the cred- 

 itors, such as printers, paper dealers, etc.; they will merely 

 have to whistle for their money, unless the laws of the State 

 of New York permit them to Dring suit against the West- 

 minster Kennel Club as being the only part of the body that 

 incurred the debt resident in New Yoik State. 



This rule must evidently have been voted upon in a hurry, 

 without due consideration of its gravity, and it is to be 

 hoped that steps will be immediately taken to revoke it be- 

 fore its effect upon the coming bench shows proves the folly* 

 of the rule so conclusively that the A. K. C. will be buried 

 in Die ruins of its officiality. WACOUTA. 



St. Paul, Minn. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



Every New Haven exhibitor \tith whom I have talked on 

 the subject of the compulsory registration rule, agrees with 

 me in most emphatically objecting to it. The only reason 

 that the New Haven Kennel Club did not claim dates for a 

 show this year was on account of the refusal of Col. Leaven- 

 worth to grant the club the use of the armory. All inter- 

 ested can rest assured that had the show been held it would 

 not have, been given under A. K. C. rules as long as the ob- 

 jectionable clause existed. E. Sheffield Porter. 



New Haven, Conn., Dec. 30. 



Editor Forest, and, Stream: 



I observe that a number of "disinterested breeders," 

 whose letters you publish, disapprove of the compulsory 

 registration rule of the American Kennel Club. I desire to 

 be" recorded, being a "disinterested breeder," representing a 

 kennel of some 60 fox-terriers, as fully indorsing the rule in 

 question. The withdrawal of the New England Kennel 

 Club from the American Kennel Club, which you so 

 triumphantly quote in your paper, will in my humble 

 opinion result very much like Birmingham's unsuccessful 

 fight against the Kennel Club iu England, and I venture to 

 predict that for every entry gained of a moderate dog from 

 local and dissatisfied owners, the New England Kennel Club 

 will lose two from the owners of important kennels who 

 believe in the rule and wish to support the Kennel Club. 

 May I ask you, Mr. Editor, whether you are in favor of a 

 kennel club at all? Do you approve of the principle of a 

 central governing club, or am I and other breeders to under- 

 stand that you simply consider the present Kennel Club 

 badly managed, but a good institution? 



August Belmont, Jr. 



Nkw York, Dec. 27- 



[Had the writer of the above letter diligently read the 

 Forest and Stream he would not have asked such foolish 

 questions. If he or any one else is in doubt as to our atti- 

 tude toward the club, it may be worth while to state the 

 position always held by the FOREST AND Stream. We do 

 believe, then, and believe heartily, in the "principle, of a 

 central governing club," on the one condition that the club 

 possess that wisdom which Coleridge defines as "common 

 sense, in au uncommon degree." Indeed, we will go further 

 and say t ha t we believe in such a club if it possess common 

 sense only in a common degree.] 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



The Fort Schuyler Kennel Club at a regular meeting, 

 Dec. 21, decided by a majority vote that it would be impos- 

 sible to adhere to the new rule of the American Kennel 

 Club, which says that all dogs must be registered in the 

 A. K. C. stud book. This would deprive us of all local 

 entries. Many valuable dogs are owned in this city and 

 vicinity, of non-sporting varieties, and the loss of patronage 

 of their owners and friends would be seriously felt by us. 

 We do not question the wisdom displayed in making the 

 new rule, but believe the time has not arrived for its en- 

 forcement. • E. J. Spencer, Sec. 



Utica, N. Y., Dec. 27. , 



Editor Forest and, Stream: 



I am pleased to see the action of the New England Kennel 

 Club in regard to the article forcing exhibitors to register 

 their dogs in the A.K.C.S.B. I hope other clubs will follow 

 their example in withdrawing from the A. K. C. if it per- 

 sists in being blind to the interests of breeders and exhibit- 

 ors. David S. Collins. 



PROVIDENCE, R. I. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



Rule No. 2 is, I think, a catch-penny for some one and I 

 do not intend to be compelled to register my dogs. 



A. W. Lucy. 



New York, Dec. 22. 



Editor Forest and. Stream: 



You cannot say that the Hartford Kennel Club will not 

 show under A. K/C. rules. I am under the impression that 

 the Hartford Kennel Club mil remain a member of the A. 

 K. C. for some months yet. A. C. COLLINS, 



Hartford, Conn., Dec. 25. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



Rule 2 of the A. K. C. is going to do a great injury to the 

 shows which will be held under its rules. Dog shows, taken 

 collectively, do not pay. The ones that have paid are those 

 which have had a good deal of popular support; what I 

 mean by popular as distinguished from scientific (if I may use 

 the term). The shows that have a great many exhibibitors 

 who never bred a dog, but by chance own one that they 

 think a lot of, who enter their dogs and take all their Mends 

 to see their dogs on the bench are the ones that have paid. 

 What do these exhibitors care whether their dogs have 

 pedigrees or not? The large breeders as a rule live at con- 

 siderable distance from the exhibition and may not have 

 a friend in the place, and their dogs are there only in care of 

 the kennel man. Also it is a well-known fact that breeders 

 of really good dogs do as a rule have them registered in one 

 or other of the stud books after they have exhibited them 

 and found that they were worthy of being registered. What 

 possible good is it to anyone to register a worthless weed 

 of a pup which can never win a prize? 



Again, is it worth paying to enter several pups which may 

 take a prize and die, as they usually do after a show, of dis- 

 temper? I myself have three young spaniels that I intended 

 to enter for the New York show next month, but I do not 

 feel disposed to pay the A. K. C. fifty cents in order to have 

 the privilege of entering them; they all can't take prizes, 

 but I want to find out which is the 'best, which I no doubt 

 would do if, as I hear, "Uncle Dick" is to judge spaniels 

 there. Therefore I must show them at some show not held 

 under the A. K. C. rules. What show in England was con- 

 sidered the hardest to win a prize at in years gone by? 

 Birmingham. Why? Because that show was always held 

 independent of all associations. More good dogs have been 

 brought out at Birmingham than at any shows ever held in 



England, and to be a Birmingham cup winner placed a dog 

 at the head of the lis!i, _ If I am not. correct in this statement 

 I know friend "Porcupine" will correct it. 



Let the A. K. C. modify their rule and maintain their 

 place at the bead of the dose world of America. It owes its 

 power solely to public opinion, and if that is against it the 

 sooner it closes its brief but turbulent career the better. It 

 has done good work, and may do much more, but it must be 

 careful not to step too hard on public opinion's corns, which 

 it has done this time without the sl ightest remorse. 



J. S. NlVEN. 



London, Ontario. 



Editor Forest and, Stream: 



I think the A. K. C. men have made a mistake; and I trust 

 they will repeal the order, for you know Yankees don't like, 

 to be driven. I am much interested in their stud book, but 

 it vAm't do to be too arbitrary— not at this season of the year. 



A. M. Tucker. 



Charlestown, N. H., Jan. 2. 



Editor Forest and, Stream: 



1 think the registration of dogs a very good thing; but 

 again, I think it will deter a great many from entering at 

 the bench shows. I have discussed the subject over with a 

 great many, and the general opinion is against it. 



Wm, Perrie Sanderson. 



Philadelphia, Pa. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



It pleased me very much to see the manly stand the Bos- 

 ton and New Haven people took in regard to compulsory 

 registration. Breeders will not have it. 



Clifton Kennel. 



Jersey Citt, N. J., Dec. 30. 



Editor Forest and, Stream: 



The Boston Kennel Club can rest assured that they have, 

 taken the proper view of compulsory registration. While I. 

 am iu favor of having dogs registered, the compulsory clause 

 should make a failure of any show showing under those 

 rules. This is the view of four Canadian kennels. Boston 

 can count on my entries for their coming show. It remains 

 to be seen how other clubs will act on this matter. 



T. G. DA VET. 



London, Ontario. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



The compulsory registration rale adopted by the A. K. C. 

 I consider a heavy tax levied on every kennel club n member 

 of that body. Its effects w ill be a largely diminished entry 

 at shows held under A. K. C. rules and therefore a dimin- 

 ished interest of the public in the matters which kennel 

 clubs are striving to promote. Increase the interest and 

 stud book entries "will increase. W. O. Partridge. 



Boston, Mass. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



You may count me among those breeders who do not pro- 

 pose to be bulldozed into paying tribute to the A. K. C. 

 charity fund, I fail to see how self-respecting owners can 

 allow themselves to be coerced into paying this tax. 



Wyoming Kennel. 



Melrose, Mass. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



I send you copy of a letter sent to Mr. Fay of the New 

 England Kennel Club Dec. 13. It was as follows: "The 

 recent action of the American Kennel Club requiring every 

 clog entered after Jan. 1, 1888, to be registered in the 

 American Kennel Club Stud Book, has almost caused me to 

 conclude not to enter a dog where the rule is to be enforced. 

 If the Kennel Club is short of funds, or the publishers of the 

 book need assistance, I do not mind giving them 50 cents 

 for each dog I exhibit during the year as an act of charity, 

 but to be compelled to enter my winning dogs on the same 

 level wdth worthless curs which have neither pedigree nor 

 record, I do not want to submit to. 



"A register compiled in the interest of breeders for dogs 

 that have competed and won two or more first and second 

 prizes at recognized shows, and where names could be 

 claimed and societies would not recognize duplication of 

 names, would be supported without, an arbitrary rule being 

 made. In such a book all would be anxious to have their 

 dogs entered. 



"N. B.— Since writing the above, I see that your club has 

 unanimously withdrawn from the A. K, C. on account of 

 the new rule. Good. You can depend on my giving you all 

 the support in my power, and it is more than likely that I 

 will not encourage any show which enforces such an obnox- 

 ious clause as is added to Rule 2. I shall send you at least 

 five entries for your coming show." M. H. Cryer. 



Philadelphia, Pa. 



Editor Forest, and, Stream: 



The old year dies and I trust with it the abstird measures 

 of the A. K. C. anent Rule No. 2. 



I will tell you what I will do. I have a lot of nice little 

 puppies all getting ready to make their debut at certain 

 spring bench shows. Now, if there is to be compulsory 

 registration at any of those shows, I'll give all the aforesaid 

 puppies to you. You can pay their registration if you like 

 and show them there. If. however, that awe-inspiring Rule 

 No. 2 becomes a dead letter you shall help me to spend the 

 prize money I trust I shall win. 



It is my firm opinion that Rule No. 2 is intended as a nasty 

 smack for Mr. Jas. Watson. (By the way, is that esteemed 

 a-imtleman Irish? Somebody whispered "Coercion," that's 

 all) 



1 know of toreadors who have come to an untimely end, 

 and I don't believe, it is a wise thing always to take the bull 

 by the horns. 



Let us hope, you and I, Mr. Editor, that our pompous, 

 purple-clad, tyrant Rule No. 2 may yet get lifted out of the 

 arena stuck right through the ribs. 



I'm sorry these are my last few months with you. I'm 

 going back to the land of the one stud book and the cl ub of 

 compuLsory registration in June, 1888. (Who said out of 

 the frying-pan into the fire?) 1 wish you joy if the new code 

 comes. Ronald H. Barlow, 



Philadelphia, Pa., Dec. 31. 



EdMor Forest and Stream: 



I thought my eyes played me false when they first con- 

 veyed to "my mmd the substance of the compulsory registra- 

 tion rule, and I read it over two or three times before being 

 satisfied that they read aright. How sane men could make 

 such a cut-throat rule I failed to see. 



It would be a very nice little rule and help along the 

 "official'' venture swimmingly if American show managers 

 and exhibitors were fools enough to permit themselves to 

 be bulldozed in such a manner. But they "aint built that 

 way," at least I fancy not. A man might do a thing of his 

 own free will, but if he w T ere told he must do it he would be 

 inclined to consign the dictator to a warmer place than New 

 York and then not do it. No man likes being dictated* to, 

 nor, if he can help himself, will he submit to it. In this 

 case he can help it. 



The promptitude of Boston and New Haven in leaving the 

 A. K. C. must have startled the projectors of Rule Two. 

 Boston held the best show ever held in America last spring, 

 and I venture to prophesy will even surpass it in the coming 



