Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1884-11-26
sTUD-HoRsE POKER.
THE CITY TRUSTEES LCENSE
THE GAME.
The Price for Official Recognition
of Crime Placed at 500
per Month.

4 The Price IOr OluCldi ISCCoShieAoh
of Crime Placed at 500
per Month.
The Board of Trustees met yesterday
morning in special session, for the purpose
of considering the propriety OF licensing
stud-horse poker. The ordinance was
drawn some two weeks since, and presented
to the Board by Trustee Nielsen, by re-
quest 1t was delayed from time to time,
and on each occasion of its coming to the
front for consideration, the attendance at
the session of the Board was largely in
creased by the presence of those who made
living out of the game, and those who
were interested in its suppression. Yester-
day morning before the hands of the clock
on the wall of the City Hall marked 10
the Trustees were in their seats and the
room was crowded. The audience was al
most entirely composed of Sacramento s
most influential citizens, most successful
business men and the solid men of the
community. Arranged alongside were
nearly all the ministers of the city. There
was noticed also several of those present
who are known as stud-horse-poker men.
Although they took no part in the debate
that ensued, they seem to be attentive
listeners to all that was being said.
The meeting was called to order by the
Mayor who stated its object, and then read
the much talked-of ordinance. The amount
to be charged per month was left blank.
| Trustee Nielsen moved to insert in the
blank $3.50 per month or $3.50 per quarter
Mr.. Brown thought 500 per month would
be the proper thing, and the other Trustees
agreeing, the latter sum was inserted.
The Mayor then, looking around upon
the audience, said he presumed that they
had assembled to discuss the merits and
dement's of the proposition, and he invited
| discussion.
THE CITIZENS ASSOCIATION.
c. f. Grunsky Assistant State Engineer,
said he appeared on behalf of the Citizens
Association to present the following memo
rial
| The Citizens Association of Sacramento re-
| spectfully and earnestly protest against che
| passage of the proposed ordinance licensing the
stud-horse poker gambling game; and We fur
| ther most earnestly request the repeal the or
dinance of August, 1888, licensing faro and other
games in direct violation of the State law; and
| we would further request the Immediate passage
| and enforcement of an ordinance prohibiting all
kinds of gambling within the city limits.
| He said he believed he was voicing the
| sentiments of the committee and the whole
people when he protested against licensing
crime. IL was true the revenue derived
therefrom was not inconSiderable. But
| there is another side to the question, and so
| far as the profits are concerned, it is in a
great measure fallacious He referred to
| the exposures made by January, and
alluded to the Chinese riots, that cost the
l i Ill
1t looked to many that the licensing pro-
position was entirely in the interest of the
gambler 1t was less than the hush
| money of long ago, and allowed him to
practice his profession boldly and unre-
Stricted.
THE MAYOR DEFENDS HIS ACTION.
The Mayor said he fully agreed with
divine who said a few evenings since in
his sermon on gambling, that it was an
| evil that had existed from the earliest his
tory of mankind. 1t was something that
could not be successfully prohibited. He
had noticed one thing-that since faro had
been licensed those games had done less
| business than before This is not the place
| to stop the vice by an enactment of ordi
nances. Here once year the State Gov
eminent carries on a game for a couple of
| weeks that is more debauching than any
| other kind of gambling he knew of. He
referred to the selling of pools on races at
the State Fair. He said the State received
| from the pool-box at the last State Fair
over $4,000. 1t is true there is State law
against gambling We tried for two years
to enforce it, and found that we could not
get iuries to convict. They would not bring
in a verdict in accordance with the law and
evidence. You know how it was in the
Sunday-law cases. Gambling was debauch-
ing our city government. 1t was carried on
behind doubled and barred doors, where
young men, clerks of business houses, and
in some cases business men themselves,
could gamble off the money belonging to
their families, their employees, or their part
ners, without being found out.
mum" WAS THE WORD.
Well, we've broken that up. Instead of
the money going to debauch the officers, it
is turned into the city treasury, the doors
| of those places thrown open, and every
man who SO desires can walk in at any
time and see who frequents and plays at
the gaming table. Those who run the
games tell me that since the games are
made public several young men who were
| regular players in secret, have quit playing
altogether. Several of those young men,
and older ones, too, have come to ne and
| thanked me for this ordinance. 1t was the
cause of their abandoning q vice that was
| fast Turing them on 10 destruction. You
| who know of the manner in which those
games were conducted prior to August last,
know that these statements were true. No
man could get into one of those rooms
until he had been examined through the
wicket, and perhaps his name reported to
the proprietor An officer of the law was
not admitted, and often thieves and scoun-
drels were hidden away from the officers
| for days at a time in those
DARK, CLosELY-wATcHED LARS OF THE TIGER
The best thing that can be done for the
city is to put stud-horse poker on the side
walk if necessary, make it public as you
have faro, and like the latter has been, you
will destroy it. 1t is a question whether or
not many who have been driven out of
faro have not gone into the stud-hoTse
! business. We propose to protect the youth
| the young men of this city, and this ordi-
nance fully provides for that protection
No owner, dealer, or proprietor must allow
a minor to play, and if he does the penalty
IS severe. In this wax we will try and stop
all young men from playing If older men
viii persist in wrestling with the tiger or
playing at stud-horse let it be in public
where he can be seen. known and branded
as q gambler.
| Mr.. GrunSky said some cities in Europe
notably Baden Baden, had passed gambling
ordinances similar to this but they after
wards discovered their error and found it
necessary 10 have to actually suppress it.
Mayor Brownie believe we are doing
the best thing for the morals of this conf
munity How is it in San Francisco and
other cities in this State who now are
pointing their fingers in deriSion at us /?
Make comparison for moment Sacra-
mento, with her 10000 people, has six faro
games and twenty-five tan games, all open
and licensed. There is not another one in
the city. How is it in San Francisco?
over 100 faro games and over $50 tan
games Oakland, San Jose, Stockton and
Los Angeles proportionately as bad. They
do not regulate the crime, and assert they
have none. Young January only lost
s., 500 at licensed games in this city. We
accept your protest as emanating from the
purest motives and the best of hearts.
J. NJ Milliken read from the RECORD
UNION the remarks made by the Mayor on
Monday in the Board of Trustees, relative
to the city officers not performing their
duties in accordance with law. The
Mayor admitted that the report was cor
rect Now, then" Mr.. Milliken said, re-
Stunning. for YOU or this Board to say that
gambling cannot be stopped, or the laws
and ordinances enforced, is q delusion and
a snare You assert that you and the
! Police Judge did at one time take this mat
ter of enforcing laws in hand, and You sue
L. 10 fi.aG