AN IRISH MEMBER ON RACE MEETINGS.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XIII, Issue 89, 13 April 1878, Page 4

AN IRISH MEMBER ON RACE MEETINGS.

Mr Power in moving the rejection of a bill, introduced in the House of • Commons by the member for Glasgow, was somewhat severe on the sober tastes of our countrymen north of the Tweed. The bill had for its object the suppression of certain race meetings, in the neighborhood of London, end Mr Power, is reported to have said :~Tbe effect of the measure which . faiad. been introduced by a member call-

ing himself" advanced Liberal " would be to dfepnve the London tradesmen and artisans of participation in a noble Bport unless they cboge to go to the expense of a lonjp journey from the Metropolis. If the Bill were passed, the hot), member for Glasgow, who was a man of expansive mind, would probably propose next session to extend the limit, aod to put an end to racing at Punchsstown and on the Currngh of Kildare. (Hear, hear, and laughter). He very much doubted whether the scenes of dissipation and excess which were said to form part of these suburban race meetings had any existence ; but if they had, the ordinary laws of the eouuiry were quite sufficient for their suppression and for the punishment of those who took part in them. He objected strongly to the principle of ihe Bill, which was, in short, that a national sport should be suppressed in particular localities because the personal convenience of certain persons resident therein was interfered with. He found among the names of stewards of some of these suburban raca meetings, Ihe names of noblemen and gentlemen who, he felt sure, would not under any circumstance countenance any proceeding that could have the effect of lowering the noble sport of horse racing. It wpb an extraordinary fact that the people who complained of the race meeting iv question Bhould have to go to Scotland for an advocate. It was true the people of. Scotland were not lovers of sport were little adapted for jt. (A laugh.) They were more adapated for agricultural pursuits and statistical societies. (Laughter.) They were nccustomed to an air of melancholy, and lived in a country famous for the production of snuff, whiskey, and thistles, nnd if any one doubted the patriotism of the hon member for Glasgow, let him remind him that when away from his own country he lived in Thistle Grove. (Renewed laughter.) If fantastic notioca such as those on which the Bill was founded were to become the law of the land, why should not Iho hon member apply it first to the city ho so worthily represented ? He would rend a few lines from a letter which described a Glasgow mob. The writer said : " I have attended a Magna Charta meeting in London ; I have seen the member for Stoke address his constituents; I once saw a prize fight near Birmingham; but the people were aristocrats compared with those I saw yesterday. I did not think such a Lor-rible-looking crowd could bo collected together. A Gl&sgow mob is par excellence the worn mob in the world. .... Swearing in English is very bad, but in Scotch it is awful. (Laughter.) Only one respectable man lived in Butherglec, and he was hanged for murder. (Renewed laughter.) An English mob, on the other hand, was a gond-humoured mob. It was plainly against the frequency of race meetings that the Bill was directed. Some people were ao constituted that it annoyed them to see oihers amused; while some took pleasure in the annoyance of others. The Puritaua of old hated bear-baiting not because it gave pain to the bear, but because it gave pleasure to the spectators. (Laughter.) Why had not the- hon member turned his attention to a better occupation than the drawing of the Bill, such, for instance, as the framing of some vexatious question for her Majesty's Government ? (A laugh.) The hon member had begun at the wrong end. Let the people be educated to refrain from vice, to learn self-res-traint, to enjoy rational amusement free from excess. There was ample scope in that vast city . for the exertions of the clergyman and tbe philanthropic legislator. He hoped the House would nor, by passing the Bill, put a tax on the rational amusement of the poor, and he begged to move that it be read that day three months. (Hear, hear.)