view raw text
a : . , j. JUDGE MURPHYS EXPOSITION OF RACING IN FLORIDA 4- The Jacksonville Metropolis, one of Floridas most enterprising and influential dailies, recently devoted considerable of its space to an exposition of the advantages accruing to Jacksonville and the state of Florida from a race meeting such as that which recently closed at Moncrief Park, from the pen of Judge Joseph A. Murphy, who acted as presiding judge during the meeting referred to. The article ably sets forth the part that racing plays in the development of any community, and is reproduced iu full, as follows: "Conservative people throughout the State of Florida have taken the reins of government into their own hands and from this time on the Peninsular State promises to supplant Missouri as the Show Me State of the Union. Recent elections, particularly the one in which .slate-wide prohibition hung in the balance, demonstrated the fact that from this time forward the voters of the state propose to look at all big civic propositions from an economic standpoint, entirely. The time for stampeding the people of the state has passed forever and studied conservatism lias become the slogan of the masses. They have learned to distinguish between the shriek of the bigot and the resenting voice of the people, and have discovered that the former is a withering Chinook that stifles progress and advancement. "The question of the perpetuation of racing at Moncrief Park will likely come before the Legislature at its coining session., and it might be well to look at the question in advance from every view-Doint. so that the poison of. prejudice may not warp conservative judgment. While we propose to take the. matter up from an economic "standpoint largely, we realize that the people of Florida propose to look into the matter from every angle, and, realizing that .the perpetuity of racing will depend largelv on the ability to convince the people of Florida that, its advantages far outweigh its disadvantages, we propose to step right into the open. "There are a certain number of people who may look upon any obeisance to pleasure as a yielding to his satanic majesty himself. These people would not listen to reason, and. we pass them up as opponents unalterable and. unbending. There are many others who out of sheer love for the horse and the sport in which it plays so great a part, would take off their coats and fight for its continuance. "It is the great mass of. people who have no direct interest, many of .them living in remote parts of the state, with, no .opportunity to get their information ilrst hand, that this article is meant for.- We- would much have . preferred that everyone could have seen Moncrief .Park during its active davs, so that they- could judge ;f.or themselves, eonld liave noted the class of people- who gave it sanction by their presence, and could have seen the order and decorum maintained. It would have left an indelible impression of class on the mind of the spectator. It would have given the lie direct to the claim sometimes made that racing crowds are made up wholly of nondescripts and moral derelicts. Any citizen of the state that might have attended would have nibbed elbows with the best that Jacksonville has, augmented by the classiest people that the north and east can send, with their wives and daughters, men seeking in sunny Florida, such sure-ease from business as is necessary to men of big affairs. Any citizen of the state would have seen a high-class place of amusement to -which he could have sent bis wife and daughters unchaperoned with the same safety that he could to any theater. That was what Moncrief Park lias been, that is what Moncrief Park of the future will be. "If any citizen of the state doubts this statement there is not a paper in Jacksonville, nor any of its citizens who have given the subject personal attention that will not subscribe to this. If some undesirables have followed in the wake of racing, that is not the fault of ihe management. Every big civic and amusement enterprise has its seamy side. There is not a city in Florida that would refuse a National Democratic" convention. If some pickpockets follow in the wake of it the next. Legislature would not legislate the Democratic party out of existence. The owners of Moncrief Park have, at their own expense, brought from the east and north, men skilled in the art of detecting crime and preventing itt men who have been schooled to remember the faces of the crooks. These men have co-operated with the local authorities in every way possible, and Jacksonville is acknowledged to be a most orderly city, nor has there been any increase in crime since the racing started. "We realize that the great fight is to be made on the speculative end of racing. We know that the reformers will cry out that they do not want to kill the racing of which they are fond, but only the speculative end of it. That was what Governor Hughes of New York said, and then put a law on the statute books that made every director liable for any betting that might take place on the grounds. Thus Mr. Vnnderbilr, in Europe, could be indicted if a bet happened to lie made ou the Sheeps-head Day race track. If racing is to be given some betting is bound to be done, and the New York people did a wise thing in refusing to be made liable for something they could not control. The same thing would obtain here. While there has been let-ting at Moncrief Park it has been done under proper regulation, with absolute protection for the public. There has been no soliciting of betting and one could go to the grounds and enjoy the racing without knowing there was any betting going on. "It is a generally accepted theory that it is the abuse and not the use of most things that result in evil. It is also, generally admitted that you cannot legislate people good. That was what the people of Florida said in no unmistakable manner when they voted on prohibition. That was what John Weslev, the fattier of Methodism, meant when he said that direct appeal to the conscience was the thing. If one enjoys a glass of wine at dinner that is no concern of his neighbor. If one has a tobacco heart we have no right to pass a law that will take the soothing weed away from our brother. If one enjoys a horse and wants to bet on it, he would not as a result compel any one else to do so, nor has he the right to prevent another man from doing so if he chooses. More money is bet on a 1residential election every four years than all the race tracks in the States in the interim, yet no one has ever advocated the abolition of the right of suffrage. More money was bet on the worlds baseball series last fall than on all the race tracks during the year, yet many of the reformers are already looking forward to this years series. "When a merchant buys his goods on time he is gambling. When one buys real estate and pays an equity on it he is gambling. When one takes out life insurance he is gambling. When one eats the meat the beef trust, parcels out he is certainly gambling. The man who bets on a horse race Is really fhe least of all. "lint let us get right down to the economic side of racing as applied to Jacksonville and see what it offers. The layman has really no conception of the magnitude of the racing proposition. Figures make one really dizzy when you get into them. The subjoined table, which is correct, will give an idea. Figuring 110 days of racing, with twenty Sundays: Keep for 1,000 horses $ 07,500 Five hundred men and boys, stable hands. l.IO.OOO Two thousand visitors at a dav 1,!00,000 Railroads 1,000,000 Street railroads,- hacks, automobiles, etc. . 150,000 Barbers 20,000 Cafes and restaurants 400,000 Spent with merchants, Christmas, etc 1,500,000 Miscellaneous 000,000 Total ,007,500 "People who come to the races pay cash for what they get and they want the best. There is not the slightest doubt hut. that a lot of the travel has been diverted from California to Florida by the Moncrief meeting. But it Is not only Jacksonville that has profited. -Only a." small percentage of the things consumed here are raised in this immediate neighborhood, and the interior of the state has also profited -largely. Thousands of boxes of grape fruit, and oranges and other fruits raised in- the interior, have been sent north and east as presents. Then, too, many of the men who have come here are owners of great estates In the north, and, having become enamored, of Florida, are contemplating investing largely in real .estate within her confines. "No one will deny that the -people of Florida can use the ,000,000 or more of cash that Moncrief Park brings each winter. If the Jacksonville people pay part of the freight at Moncrief Park, it all comes hack to them through the channels- of trade. If the track has earned some money it must not be forgotten that the bulk of the stock is owned by local people, and the dividends will remain here for investment "There is another thing that should appeal to everyone throughout the state, viz., the amount of advertising the races give the climate of the state. The Associated Press has had a special representative here all winter, and special correspondents from all the great northern papers have spent the season here, and the name of Jacksonville has been daily in the great news dispensers of the country. What New Orleans and other southern cities have spent thousands for, the people of Florida have had from Moncrief Park for nothing. If the president of any Board of Trade in the state would send wires to all the northern papers that the weather was beautiful, the blue pencil of the telegraph editors would eon-sign the telegrams to oblivion. Where a correspondent sends out a story that summerlike weather prevailed for the races today, it passes unchallenged. Will anyone deny that such a thing spread out on ones breakfast in the ico-loeked north is not a temptation for men of leisure to hike out for the sunny south. It is a conservative estimate that ",000,000 words a day are published abont Jacksonville and its racing in the great dailies of the country. "If the plans of the local management to put in a big Fair Association are allowed to mature, not only will Jacksonville take on new splendor, but the whole state wiD have the opportunity to show its wares to all who reach the gateway. No state in the Union is growing so fast from an agricultural viewpoint as Florida, and no state In the Union at the present time has such inadequate means to show Its products to the world. Even the pessimists and purists must admit that exploitation of its wonderful productive powers is the proper method for expansion, and Moncrief Park is the proper theater for this. "With the advancement of agriculture it is necessary to improve the breed of horses to work the soil properly. The management has been at work at this for two years and has distributed twenty-five stallions throughout the state to cross with coldblooded mares These stallions are drawn from the sturdiest thoroughbred families in the world, and the jtoss with the farmers mares makes an ideal work horse. "Moncrief Park has already done much for Florida, but its possibilities for good are almost unlimited. The alwve article is not a fanciful pen picture, but an array of cold facts that will stand the hluntness of type and will stand deep analysis from tlio"se who are willing to absorb it with open minds."
