The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1892-06-20

their control. Inc coIo ran second to
His Hiphness, but the club refused
to pay Corrigan the second money"
of the stakes and gave it to the
horse which actually ran third.
Then the board Of control met and
passed an edict which directed the clubs
under it's direction from receiving any
entries from Corrigan in the future.
Corrigan disputed the right of the board
of control to make any such ruling
against him and tried to make entries
despite it. They were refused There
upon he brought suit against the Coney
Island Jockey club on various allega-
,tions. The club admitted the truth of
all of Corrigan's allegations, claiming
that it had not only the right to refuse
his entries, but claiming also that, as it
was a private corporation. it had the
right to- debar any persons from partici-
'pating in the privileges of the club, If
it saw fit, without giving any rea-
son therefor. Judge Gildersleeve
overruled this demurrer, and his
decision not only establishes the
right of Corrigan to sue for the
second money Huron won. but it also
Indicates very clearly that the position
taken by the club, that it is a private
corporation, is false one. Under the
provisions Of the Ives pool law, it is a
semi-public institution, and is as amen
able to the general laws of the state as
any other institution Of the same char
Iacter. Nor is this all. The board OF
control has no charter or incorpora-
ton, and is, consequently, no matter
how benefcent its purpose, an Illegal
body. It is, in fact, aracing trust. Its
ledicts can be legally resisted, and il
they work injury or cause hardship to
anyone damages can be obtained from
its individual members therefor. The
Coney Island club has appealed from
Judge Gildersleeve's decision and the
case may be carried up to the higher
courts. If 1t is, the result is likely to
be unpleasant for the club. No judges
like to be reversed, and am told that
Judge Gildersleeve, before making his
decision, not only consulted the books
very closely, but also conferred with
some of the ablest jurists in the land.
He took ample time and opportunity to
iget at the equities of the case and il
will be surprising indeed if his decision
lis not sustained There Is another
aspect of the case. Not one of these
profitable racing associations could
exist as they do were it not for the fact
that they have been given a special
privilege to violate the gambling laws
Iof the state, through a peculiar statute
called the Elves pool law" This law
contains no clause repeating previous
statutes on the subject of gambling,
land good lawyers declare that this is a
fatal omission. They even go further
land declare that the law is unconstitu-
jtional. 1t will be fateful day for the
racing interests of New York if this
law is ever put to the test of the court
tof appeals. Perhaps it would be as
well for all concerned to drop further
legal proceedings and turn the settle
lment of the matter over to some suave,
clever turf diplomat like Smiling
Johnny Kelly.
A VETERAN JOURNALIST.
At pleasant dinner party given by
the Cosmopolitan club to a fellow news
paper worker the other evening met
for the first time rugged old John Swim
ton, man who has done as much to
put his individual mark upon the news.
papers of this city as any man since
Horace Greeley's time. He was for
years an editorial force on the Sun, and
to him was due much of the ferocious
;vigor which distinguished the SUMS edi.
,torial page. Mr.. Swinton is a man OF
views, a halter of shams and hypocrisy,
q despiser OF mere wealth, a reformer, a
friend Of labor and man Of progress.
,sive ideas. Some eight or nine years
ago he quit the Sun and started in this
city weekly newspaper, in which he
hoped to be able to give his own views,
fresh from the furnace of his brain,
without intermediary restriction. He
pleaded the cause of the workingman,
and no ADLER, wiser counselor ever ap.
:pealed in labor's behalf; but, so far as
he was concerned, the appealing was in
vain. The sons Of toll left him
alone to conduct his newspaper as
best he could, and finally, after exhaust
ing his resources, he gave up the task
iof trying to improve the condition OF
the American workingman. Since that
time he has had better experiences. An
affection of the eyes kept him lowering
for many months along the borderline
of blindness, and his other ills came
near carrying him to the '1and O. the
leal." But the old fellow is in hand
now as sturdy as a grenadier and as
bright as schoolboy. He must be well
up in the sixties, and yet no man bore
himself more blithely at this dinner
than did he. His speech was the best
of the evening, in point Of good nature,
scholarship and appositeness. He en-.
joyed the occasion and the company
was delighted with the presence of the
veteran. To'this dinner came also Cit
izen George Francis Train, who eats lit
tie or nothing, and who has probably not
appeared at a public dinner table in fif.
teen Or twenty years. Hesaid that he had
evoluted beyond all that sort of thing.
but psychic force" brought him to this
feast, and he certainly was pic
turesque object. He wore his customary
suit of snowy duck, which matched well