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WAR HAS CHANGED PUBLIC ATTITUDE Great Scarcity of Horses Created by War Has Con ¬ vinced tho Public of Importance of Racing It appears that there are still a few people in Saratoga Springs who think the August racing sea ¬ son is an obstacle to the growth of the health resort and that they can secure newspaper space to air their attacks on racing They are really in a small minority and their arguments are so light as scarcely to deserve notice The subject however is of interest on its own merits meritsThe The great war lias changed the attitude of the public toward racing as it has changed it in many other respects The war has created a great scar ¬ city of horses There is a world demand for horses for all purposes but particularly at this time for war use useOne One of the weaknesses of Germany now is lack of horses So serious is this that Gen Ludendorff chief of staff has issued orders prohibiting any but the most necessary exposure of horses and stat ¬ ing that the loss of horses cannot now be replaced Reports also state that the Germans are using many injured and disabled horses at the war front frontThe The allies are in somewhat better shape but with them horse protection is new carried to the ex ¬ treme owing to the difficulty of procuring enough of the animals Immense base horse hospitals have been established and injured and sick horses receive almost as much care as is given to men menPeople People who reason that the horse has become valueless except for sport entirely disagree with the facts of the situation They fail to recognize the increased demand for and price of horses which is created not by sport but by business needs While this is an age of mechanical development and the motor vehicle and tractor machinery is being in ¬ creasingly used it is also an age of great expansion of industry in every direction and the horse fills a place in this expansion which cannot be otherwise provided for forThe The great war has afforded convincing evidence of this Motor power is used in more ways and more extensively in modern war than in any other human activity and yet war makes more use of the horse than ever before and is creating a world scarcity of horseflesh horsefleshCAUSES CAUSES REVIVAL OF INTEREST There is a world demand for horses This de ¬ mand is at the base of the revival of interest in racing The racing horse the blooded animal is the basis of horse production The relation of the breeding farm to the racing track is so intimate that one cannot flourish without the other This has controversy controversyThe The prosperous Saratoga racing season of the rear probably the best in the history of the Saratoga Itacing Association is closely related to the horse scarcity caused by the great war Capital is going into horse production This productiou has a vital bearing on the success of the allied cause in the war and on the great reconstruction period which is to follow the war warThe The notion that the August racing season in Sara ¬ toga Springs interferes with the pros ects of the Saratoga State Reservation has no foundation what ¬ ever The contrary is the case The August sea ¬ son has been a powerful stimulant to the growth of the State Reservation More baths are given more mineral water sold more prescriptions written by Saratoga physicians interested in Saratoga as a health resort in August than in all the other months of the year And it is the August season which secures tho opening of most of the hotels and guest houses so necessary to the accommodation of health seekers seekersIt It may be added that the August season is not wholly patronized by followers of the sport of rac ¬ ing More health seekers visit Saratoga Springs in August than in any other month of the year and there is no evidence that they object to racing The facts show the contrary AAhile the growth of healthseeking visitors in other months should be encouraged the way to do this Is not to strike Saratogas prosperity a deadly blow by cutting off its chief means of revenue As these columns have long advocated the long season in Saratoga Springs should be a matter of special advertising not hostile to nor in any way related to racing There are eleven months of the year in Saratoga for health seekers and they are the best months for the purpose Saratoga Sun
