PARLIAMENTARY INTELLIGENCE. 
559 
say that the majority of our race-horses disappeared altogether from the 
turf at the end of their third year, when they were still in a state of 
infancy. He should not be at all sorry to see the old weights gone back 
to, though he admitted the difficulty there would be in having such an 
arrangement with the present system of running horses. When they 
found that of thirty-eight Queen’s Plates run for in England seventeen 
had been won by one mare, which had six or seven walks over, and that 
of seventeen Queen’s Plates run for in Ireland eight had been won by one 
animal, he thought they might arrive at the conclusion that some change 
was required. (Hear, hear.) He rather agreed in Admiral Rous’s 
opinion that we should have free trade in this matter; but if free trade 
meant an absence of State interference with the rules and regulations of 
the turf, it also meant an absence of State subsidies. (Hear, hear.) If 
the Queen’s Plates were given, not for a great public object, but for the 
mere purpose of encouraging sport, the Government ought to give some 
of the public money as prizes for cricket matches, or as subscriptions 
towards some of the fox hunts, which were much in want of funds. 
(Hear, hear.) With regard to prizes, Mr. Dickenson makes these 
observations:— 
“ When a prize of 100/. was given by the Royal Agricultural Society 
at Battersea, the best stallions were brought from all parts of the country, 
even a Derby winner, to whom was awarded the prize. Nevertheless, 
the object of the Society was not obtained. It is not the winner of the 
Derby or St. Leger, a horse that will never be taken from his own stable- 
door, that should come to an Agricultural Show, exhibit himself there, 
and walk off with the prize; but it is a good, strong, thoroughbred 
country stallion, that is available for the use of the ordinary mares of the 
country.” 
The fact was, we did not possess horses which were so useful for general 
purposes as those possessed by our forefathers, and he therefore begged 
to move that, as the annual grant of sums of money voted by this House 
for Queen’s Plates no longer encourages the breed of good horses, the 
object for which it was originally given, it should for the future be dis¬ 
continued. 
Mr. Neiodegate thought that the hon. member who had just sat down, 
and who was entitled both by descent and from personal knowledge to 
offer an opinion on the matter, had done good service in bringing this 
subject under the notice of the House. (Hear, hear.) He himself had 
taken a great interest in the breeding of horses for the last twenty-five or 
twenty-six years, and he thought there was a great change in the cha¬ 
racter of our horses. He did not, however, believe that was entirely 
attributable to our racing system. The fact was, some few years ago, 
before railways were established, none of us would have thought much of 
riding twenty miles in one ride, but now very few gentlemen took a ride 
of twenty miles, and unless a man was on his horse for a considerable 
time, and over a good deal of ground, he never found out what the animal 
was made of. Railways had greatly lessened the demand for good road¬ 
sters, though we still exported a large number. Pie thought the advice 
of Admiral Rous, that the distance for Queen’s Plates should never be 
less than three miles, was worthy of consideration; and he was further of 
opinion that a Queen’s Plate should not be given unless the private sub¬ 
scriptions were double or treble the amount of the public contributions. 
He believed the effect of such a regulation would be the production of a 
very superior class of racers. The Government might increase the public 
prize according to the increase in the subscriptions. There was no doubt 
that the 100/. was often won by inferior animals; and Admiral Rous was 
