The Akaroa Mail. FRIDAY. APRIL 22, 1881.

Akaroa Mail and Banks Peninsula Advertiser, Volume V, Issue 498, 22 April 1881, Page 2

The Akaroa Mail. FRIDAY. APRIL 22, 1881.

Mattkrs tlicati'ieal are not very lively sit present, '.ut a. now sorio comic drama lias jnst been performed which we sire somewhat surprised to find the leading daily papers have fulled to criticise. It is entitled ".Judicious Generalship, or Hie Gentlomnn and the Jockey." The two latter characters were "doubled" by Mr H. P. Lane, and though lie • appeared to he somewhat overweighted in the former part, it is only fair to state that his performance of the latter was simply jierfi ction, and showed the. most complete faniiliivrily with the character "from first to last. A numerous army of supers appe red as "metallicians," regardless of expense (to the public), and the D lined in Jockey Club acted as a well trained " chorus, , ' and delivered themselves'of sentiments quite as inane as ary ever uttered in a Greek play or an Italian opera. The main action took place in Dunodin, but an effective epilogue, composed by the principal performer, was delivered in Christchurch.

To drop metaphor, let us glance at the facts connected with what is euphemistically called the." Natatorunpleasantness,"i They are only a repetition of an ofttold tale, but they may have their use for those good, charitable souls who are still willing to believe that racing is carried -on-"to encourage the breed of horses," and not, as has been proved over and over again, for theipurpose of diverting n constant stream of coin from the pockets of the unsuspecting public to those of a ring of professional gamblers.

Natator is a racehorse owned by the Hon. W. Robinson, but the arrangements for running , him are left entirely in the hands of Mr H P. Lance. The latter gentleman is in every respect a representative racing man, and occupies the position of chairman of the Christchurch Jockey Club. It cannot, therefore, be pleaded in . extenuation of anything that took pl»co that it was done by an inexperienced outsider without a reputation to lose.' Fortunately the facts arc undisputed, and the only question is as to the construction to be placed upon a certain line of action.

Now what are the factb ? Natator was entered for the Forbury Handicap, to be run.at the Dunedin Autumn Meeting. On the evening on which the weights were to appear, Mr Lnncc engaged a box for the horse by the train leaving on the. following morning. During the evening he went down to the club room, and on the appearance of (lie weights, accepted for tin , horse. On the following moriiing tin , horse was sent away by the 7.90 train for the north, and at 11.10, (or when the horse was really somewhere near Oamaru,) Mr Lance put the pen through his name.

. Such arc the facts, and as we have before remarked, they are undisputed. What explanation has Mr Lance to offer? We will give his own words on the mutter. He says:— Before leaving the course on Friday,-I told our trainer to have everything ready for starting by train in the morning, and told the jockey to meet me in Dunedin in the evening after the acceptances were out, and I would then decide whether we would run or send the horses home. I went straight to the railway station from the course and ordered a horse-box for the morning. When the Aveights appeared, I thought the race a good thing for liandwick if lie ran, and that lie was almost certain to win* If he did not run, 1 thought that Natator had a chance, and I accordingly accepted with him. Later in the evening, on learning from our jockey that Randwick was all but certain to start, I agreed .with him that with so valuable i\ stake before us at Wangamii it was not worth while to start our horse, mid I accordingly sent orders by him that the horse should leave by the mprning train.

It will be seen that this explanation only professes to account for the engaging of ;, tlic ■■ horso-liox, Accepting Mr Liince's statment on tliis head unreservedly, there still remains the damaging fact that at an hour which he vaguely designates as " later in the evening," ho gave orders to send the horse away, and yet allowed him to remain in the betting till near midday on the next day. The Secretary to the Jockey Club states, that he remained in the room till midnight, so that there was ample time to have scratched the horse overnight. Well, the Committee of the Dunedin Jockey Club met to consider the matter. And this sort of tribunal investigating an alleged shady turf transaction reminds us forcibly of the good old times when Parliamentary Commrteos u<od to sit as judge's in bribery cases. Of course it was necessary to appear shocked, and equally of course the I honorable member for Rottcnborough deserved punishment for being found out;

but hi'W could the members of Committee l>e really in earnest, when each one was haunted with the remembraiico of the unpleasantly large cheque he had been obliged to sL;n, the expenditure of which had to be left entirely to his agent. "Well, the committee met, and the arguments used on Mr Lance's behalf resolved themselves into this—that what he had done was r.ct contrary to " racing law." In fact, the following is a, fair sample of them.

Mr Dowse said that Mr Lance had only done what:all racing men did, and even the Duke of Hamilton—that was, to keep within the racing rules, however dishonest the act might be. Finally the following resolution was agreed to: — "That having received the explanation of Mr 11. P. Lance, Avith regard to the Isatator for the Forbury Park Handicap, 26th February", the Committee . considers it, highly unsatisfactory, and expresses its strong, disapprobation of the coursepursued in allowing a horse to remain in the betting nearly four hours after he left Dunedin, and for a long time after Mr Lance decided to send the horse away.

As one of the members pithily put this was equivalent to Faying that they believed l\lr Lance guilty, but they were not men enough to punish him. Exactly. Pass a highly moral resolution to look well in the eyes of the public, and at the same time do nothing to interfere with any of the time honored methods of fleecing the s.uue public permitted by "racing law." " *' — :

So far wb consider the affair bad enough, but ?Mr Lance "has thought fit to publish a reply on the whole case, which for cool effrontery is hardly to be equalled, and which, issuing from such a quarter, ought to help to open the eyes of the public to the morality to be expected from the ring. Mr Lance commences by saying :—

A friend of mine in the North Island is in the habit of saying, after you have wasted a great deal of argument upon him, " Well, you say so, but what then?" Such is my answer to the committee ol the Dunedin Jockey Club.

Mr Lance proc-eds to justify his action on two grounds. First, he says with his advocate, Mr Dowse, that other men have done worse ; secondly, that very little money changed hands over the race. Now, we -aipposo that even Mr L;ince will admit that it is discreditable to bet on a certainty. He admits having given the opportunity to betting men to lay against Natator when the horse was on his way to Christchurch, and still he coolly asks

"What then?" The three card trick is sternly repressed by the police on all racecourses, but we consider the manipulator of the said three cards to be a mirror of chivalry compared with the coward who otters a wager which he knows his opponent canno possibly win. The Cornier backs his skill with his fingers against the' spectators' eyes. The latter simply picks his opponent's pocket. And let "racing law " say what it likes, Mr" Lance by giving the opportunity for a swindle being perpetrated, though he has not gained a shilling by the transaction, must be prepared to take his share of the obloquy appertaining to the proceeding, That in spite of all this, he can still exclaim " What then ?'' is a striking proof of the demoralizing effect of constant intercourse with the patrons and hangers on of that great British gambling machine called the Turf.