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Oamaru Mail, Volume II, Issue 530, 12 January 1878, Page 2

ll is more than probable that at the meeting of the newly-elected Turf Club, to be held on Monday evening, the advisability or otherwise of removing the disqualification from the horse Fishhook will be taken into consideration. Such being the case, we may be permitted to say a few words on the matter. We have no intention of referring to the circumstances under which the horse was disqualified from again running on the Oamaru race-course, and which led to his being similarly dealt with throughout the Colony. The facts of the c«sj will be fresh in the.recollection of all interested in matters appertaining to the turf. O'Brien, the owner of Fishhook, has lately written to the Club, asking to have the matter again considered, and in his letter states that he has been almost ruined alike in pocket and reputation through the horse being disqualified The first question to be considered is : Is this statement of O'Brien's true? If it is—and there should be some means of ascertaining its correctness —it may fairly be taken as one ground for removing the disqualification. What, in our opinion, is necessary in cases of dishonourable conduct on the Uirf, is to mete out a punishment commensurate with the extent of the offence, and at the same time sufficient to make it a warning to evildoers for the future to act honestly. To go beyond this would be to err in the opposite direction. Every offence against law and order has its fitting punishment, and the question for the Committee to decide is whether or not O'Bkiex has suffered sufficiently for his offence. Having decided that point, there should be little difficulty in the way of arriving at a decision with regard io removing the disqualification from the horse. For many j reasons we' should like to see Fishhook I again allowed to make his appearance on j our race-course. The first of these is, j like many of the general public, we think |

that the prime offender was not punished. O'Bexen, we have little hesitation in saying, was made merely the instrument of who have—although through no fault of the Club—never been reached by a fitting amount of punishment. At the same time we should be sorry to say that O'Beien was not deserving of the punishment which he received. He had no right to countenance a swindle. He should have proved himself superior to the temptations which we, in common with a large number of others, believe I were held out to him. He should at once 'have declined to become a party to anything that was not honorable and not calculated to maintain the purity of the turf. That he did not disclose the whole nature of the affair is but natural, for in shielding others he was actuated by a desire to shield himself ; but it is a matter of regret that the Club could not have got to the bottom of the "business, and inflicted punishment on all concerned in it. That result, however, was unattainable, and the Committee had therefore no alternative but to punish O'Brien and the jockey, and let the others go free. The only thing now to be done is simply to consider whether he has been sufficiently punished, and whether any evil is likely to result from granting him what may be termed a free pardon by permitting him to again run his horse. The whole question is a very delicate one to handle, but we feel sure that whatever may be the decision of the Committee it will be one based upon justice alike to the public and O'Brien.