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. ir Here and There h on -the Turf ft "Reform" Hurts the Farmer. n Racing and Land Values. 11 h The "Reformers" Slogan. and h he Dilatory Horsemen. - If the Bennett bill had passed the Kentucky . senate and the race tracks of the Blue Grass state had been closed, there is no question 1 . whatever that the greatest sufferer would have j been the Kentucky farmer. J. B. Snodgrass, writing in the New York Evening Post, at-tributes the failure of the Short Grass Stud auction to the after effects of the defeated e "reform" measure at Frankfort. "The people of Kentucky," he writes, "had thought that racing was secure there. When 1 the new danger arose suddenly they had visions of Blue Grass land, worth from ,000 an acre and up, being turned into tobacco land, which change in a few years would convert the 2 j land into barren areas worth perhaps 5 an acre." There were probably other elements that entered into the failure of the Herz sale, but there is no question whatever that Mr. Snod- , grass is largely correct in his diagnosis of the e situation. "Reform" legislation, although it t often finds strong support among the farmers, ; is nearly always directed at some commodity y which the farmer himself produces. Kentucky farmers are in a doubly precarious 5 situation. The breeding industry and tobacco 0 raising are practically their only means of making a livelihood out of their broad acres. s" For these two crops, if they may be so designated, 5" blue grass land is pre-eminently adapted. With racing threatened by the "reformers1 and tobacco the target of another set of rabid antijoy campaigners, the Kentucky farmer may y consider himstlf in real danger. It is to the 16 interest of the farmer to protect the markets tS for his crops. He is more vitally interested d than any other element in the community in n keeping alive the demand for the commodities which he produces. Every blow at racing is a blow at the breeding industry and at the value of breeding land. The farmers whose land is threatened have the 16 means at hand to protect themselves. If they will band together to prevent the passage of af legislation which will affect them so adversely, they can clminate all chances for future legislative coups like that which pushed the Bennett bill through the Kentucky house. If they continue to line up with the "reformers" or maintain a passive attitude in the face of such active threats against their livelihood, they will have only themselves to blame if a catastrophe overtakes them. Kentucky is not a great industrial state. Its prosperity depsnds upon the products of its farms. Any sharp fall in real estate values in Kentucky would mean a corresponding increase in the tax rates. In other words, the landowner would be faced with an enormous increase in taxation in the face of a sharp depreciation in property values, if such a measure ir h ft n 11 h h he . 1 . j e 1 2 j , e t ; y 5 0 s" 5" y 16 tS d in n 16 of af as the Bennett bill were ever placed on the statute books of Kentucky. Kentucky racing creates a demand for thoroughbred stock. If there were no racing in Kentucky, thoroughbred values would take an enormous drop overnight. The results of the Herz auction indicate that. Although the Bennett bill failed of passage, the fact that it f 4, 1 progressed as far as it did has resulted in a 2 . near panic in the breeding industry. 4 3 It was Mr. Herz misfortune that he hap- 5 5-pened C to be caught in the backwash of this particular "reform wave." He saw stock which he had acquired at enormous expense going at 1 j prices which would have seemed absurdly low 2 2 a few months ago. 3 3 But in another sense Mr. Herz misfortune 4 4 may prove of great value to the Kentucky 5 5 farmer and the breeding industry in general, C c if it serves to bring home to those most deeply affected the dangers that lie in the untram- melcd activities of the "reformers." 1 1 2 2 It is a warning which should not go unheeded. 3 4 4 5 5 Agriculture is a fundamental industry. The 6 farmers produce enters into almost every manufactured commodity which finds its way into the homes of the nation; but the farmer 1 1 himself does not always think of this fact when - allows himself to become associated with 3 4 some "reform" element in a movement to 5 r restrict still further the liberties of the American 6 people. - Every "reform" movement is bound to have 1 1 its economic effect. No industry can be legis- lated out of existence without robbing a 1 2 greater or lesser element of the affected com- : 3 4 munity of a means of livelihood. Arid every time that a supposed evil is legislated out of existence, it is replaced by a greater evil, 1 against which no legislation is likely to be effective. This is no theory; it is a demonstrated fact. A "reformer" is never an economist. He does , not worry about the practical consequences of his proposals to make the world good by law. His only interest is in seeing his chimeri-1 cal notions enforced upon all of those who do not agree with him. The "reformer" has adopted the slogan at- tributed to a great capitalist as his own and "the public be damned" is h"is motto always, although he does not advertise the fact, It is difficult to understand why trainers and jockeys continue to delay filing their applications for Jockey Club licenses. The opening of the racing season is less than two months away and there will be only one meeting of the license committee before the meeting at Jamaica begins. Yet there are only a few applications on file at the offices of the Jockey Club. These trainers and riders who have delayed filing their applications will cause more mcon- venience to themselves than to anybody else by their dilatory tactics. If their applications are not on file by the time the racing season opens they will find themselves without badges and will have to pay their way in at the gate. They may find themselves in the un-23 pleasant position of standing on the sidelines and watching the races instead of working at their professions. It is not likely that the Jockey Club will depart from custom to issue temporary licenses for those who have failed to make application in time.
