The Moral Horse.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XXIX, Issue VII, 16 August 1902, Page 400

The Moral Horse .

Mr. Brodrick, the Secretary of State for War, reviewing the army remount scandals in the House of Commons last week, remarked that the horse, though not himself immoral, was the cause of immorality in others. Beyond this naive utterance of what to most people is a time-worn truism, Mr. Brodrick does not appear to have suggested any new reflections on the fact he stated. Yet his remark sounds more like the introduction to some philosophic discussion of the causes which associate one of the most noble of animals with dishonesty- and underhand dealing in man, than a mere detached statement for the information of the House of Commons. Perhaps Mr. Brodrick adduced the sad fact as some extenuation of the contract scandals. Perhaps he offered it as a discovery he had just made in investigating the circumstances of the latter, for it is possible he may never have done any horse-dealing himself, and the copious literature that finds material for tragedy and comedy in the sinister character of the horse trade may have escaped his studiouq mind. It is a pity that someone does not pursue the line of thought Mr. Brodrick’s remark opens up. and investigate the reasons why- the horse more than any- other animal living or extinct is indirectly responsible for a very- serious deterioration in the morals of those who have to do with him. Why, for instance, is it that association with dogs or cows does not have a similar effect on poor humanity? Of course, dog-dealers are not among the most trusted or highly esteemed of men, and dairymen live under the perennial suspicion of watering their milk, but otherwise they- enjoy a much higher reputation than the horse-dealer does. Again, it is a well-known fact that while Jhe non-professional dog-lover and cowfancier can be relied on to do justly with his fellow man in any- canine or vaccine transaction, the same individual, when it is a question of horse-flesh, is influenced by quite another ethical standard. There is an Italian proverb which says, “In buying horses and taking a wife, shut your eyes and commend yourself to God,” thus placing the wiles of women and horse-dealers on a par. Ths comparison is most unfair to the fair sex, for no woman is in 'if with the astute horse-dealer. But all this is merely- recapitulating facts; it is not answering the question of why the horse, the most innocent of quadrupeds, should be the cause of dishonesty- in man. Will no one essay the task of vindicating his character from the vicious blot that now stains it? No fruit on earth deserves to bear a more sinister character than the apple if ancient history- is to be received as evidence, but is it not a faet that no fruit is more popular to-day than that of the once-forbidden tree? If it had been a horse instead of an apple that Eve took there would be more reason for the invidious position the poor gee-gee is forced to occupy.