The Horse of America in His Derivation, History, and Development

by John Hankins Wallace

While an adequate discussion of the standard is neither necessary or possible in this article, it was so obviously part and parcel of the “Trotting Register” that its history must be briefly outlined. The standard formulated in 1879 served its purpose well, but it was but an initial step, and it was fully recognized by Mr. Wallace at the time that it would have to be revised and strengthened from time to time so as to keep pace with the progress of the breeders. If the standard to-day is held in slight esteem, or even in contempt, it is clearly because it has been allowed to lag far behind the progress of the breed.

Evils grew out of the standard, even in its early years, simply through a quite general misunderstanding of its purposes and its full meaning. Standard rank became instantly so popular and so sought after that thousands of breeders aimed solely to breed into the standard, without much regard for other necessary qualifications. They seemed to forget that it was merely a definition of the blood that was eligible to the “Register,” and not, nor ever intended, to be taken as a general measuring stick of value. Soon after its adoption an era of great prosperity came in trotting affairs, with recklessly high prices for standard animals. With an apparently insatiable market there came an abnormal expansion of the industry. Thousands of men began breeding without knowing anything, either practically or theoretically, about the industry, except how to get into the standard. Hence the overproduction of not only standard trotting horses, but all kinds of trotting horses of inferior breeding and little excellence, and the subsequent break in prices, for all of which the standard has been by inconsiderate persons blamed.

Not long after its adoption Mr. Wallace saw these dangerous tendencies, and in the Monthly warned the breeders against them, and early began agitating for a revision of the rules. But nothing could stem that rising tide, and at first the opposition to any change in the rules was vehement and general. The obviously easy gateway into the standard was through rule seven, and this became the storm center of the discussion. Mr. Wallace led in the call for the abolition of this rule, and did it so persistently and well that gradually the leading breeders and thinkers were won over, but the outcry against a change was so earnest and so general among the smaller breeders that the National Association hesitated long. Though a Committee on Revision was appointed as early as December, 1885, it was not until December 14, 1887, that a revision was finally effected, the standard being then adopted as printed on pages 520-21.

Every reader can observe, by comparison with the previous standard, that there was a wise and conservative strengthening of the rules all along the line. The next step contemplated by Mr. Wallace was not only a further restricting revision on blood lines, but also an increase in the speed rate required, an advance from 2:30 to 2:25, then ultimately to 2:20, his purpose being that the standard should keep pace with the progress of the breed. But before any of these steps were made the “Register” passed into other hands—and other theories and practices have prevailed, with the result that the standard is to-day held in derision and the value of the “Register” has sunk to the vanishing point. But before reaching this phase of our history some account of Mr. Wallace’s other publications is in order.

“Wallace’s Monthly.”

At a very early period in the history of the “Trotting Register” Mr. Wallace perceived the necessity of there being some medium of communication with the breeders which he could control. This was one of several reasons, which need not here be detailed, the outcome of which was the establishment of the publication which has played a greater part than any other in developing the trotting literature of to-day, and in leading American thought on the science of breeding—Wallace’s Monthly. The first number came out in October, 1875, with Benjamin Singerly, publisher, and John H. Wallace, editor. Mr. Singerly was an uncle of Hon. William M. Singerly, of the Philadelphia Record, and had large printing establishments in Harrisburg and Pittsburg, Pa. The first twelve numbers of Wallace’s Monthly were printed in Harrisburg, though published from the outset from New York. Benjamin Singerly died in August, 1876, from which time Mr. Wallace carried on the publication himself, from the little office at 170 Fulton Street, overlooking St. Paul’s churchyard.

In accordance with the time-honored custom in journalism, the first number of Wallace’s Monthly contained a salutatory outlining its purposes and its policy, and in almost every detail that policy was honestly lived up to while Mr. Wallace controlled the magazine. The horse was to be made the leading, but not the exclusive feature; full trotting and running summaries with indexes were to be published; correspondence was invited; and, as a cardinal principle of policy, gambling in any and all forms was to be uncompromisingly fought against. This last detail of policy Mr. Wallace rigidly adhered to always. He opposed public betting in any form and under any pretense, and believed, and acted up to the belief, that if racing could not be maintained without betting it were better that grass should grow on the tracks. The first number of the Monthly contained a descriptive article by “Hark Comstock,” and some selected matter, but was chiefly the editor’s work—mostly concise historical matter, dealing with the early progenitors of the trotting breed.

With each number the Monthly strengthened, until soon it had gathered around it the brightest writers in the country. Notwithstanding this, however, the editorial department was always its strongest feature, and it rapidly became a power in the land. Among the earliest contributors were “Hark Comstock” (Peter C. Kellogg), always a fluent writer, and one of the most versatile special pleaders on horse topics known to the turf press; Charles J. Foster, the gifted “Privateer,” whose work, from a literary standpoint, was oftentimes a model of finish; “Yah Amerikanski” (Spencer Borden), and “S. T. H.” (S. T. Harris), both brilliant, especially in controversy; H. T. Helm, Levi S. Gould, and many others prominently known in turf literature a quarter of a century ago.

Spirited controversy early became a feature of the Monthly, and in these passages-at-arms the editor was generally found taking a leading hand. As a writer Mr. Wallace was always above all things forceful. He fortified himself in theory and fact amply, and his style was so direct, yet comprehensive, that every shot told, and even those who disagreed with him were forced to read and admire these spirited discussions. Mr. Wallace moreover early impressed the public with his uncompromising honesty, and with the fact that, above all things, he had the courage of his convictions. There was no dodging issues, no dallying or compromising with humbug of any sort; a spade was called a spade, and no consideration of “policy” brought a note of indirection into the Monthly’s editorial pages. The personality of the editor was ineffaceably stamped on his magazine, and its influence became potent for good far beyond the limitations of mere circulation.

The magazine became quickly the leader in thought on breeding subjects, and hardly an advanced idea that to-day prevails in this field of literature but can be found first suggested in the Monthly. The first table of trotters under their sires was published in Wallace’s Monthly for 1877; the standard was first suggested in its pages; the pacer as an origin of trotting speed was first advanced in February and March, 1883; it was the first to formulate and advocate and put to the test a scale of points for judging horses; and above all it was the power that educated breeders to an understanding of breeding on truly scientific principles, and brought about an acceptance and appreciation of the laws of heredity as applied to breeding the trotter. And, interspersed with this continual seeking for the light and the right, there was an amount of historical matter published that would make the compilation of a valuable book on the American trotter possible from the Monthly alone. It was, moreover, continually exposing frauds of history and of pedigrees, and was as potent in guarding as it was in discovering the truth. It was the recognized enemy of fraud, of humbug, of false pretense everywhere, and attacked them in high places as well as low, and that its editor incurred the enmity of many whose designs attracted the Monthly’s searchlight, and were thwarted by it, is a fact known of all men.