The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1894-01-12
SPORTS VS.. GOVERNOR.
It Looks as Though the 0orbett-
Mitchell Fight Will Occur.
NO LAW AGAINST THE CONTEST.
A Letter from Manager Bowdcn to Gov
ernor Mitchell which Throws Light ON
the subject-Lawyers Agres That the
AFFAIR Is Perfectly Legal.

ernor Mitchell which Throws Light on
the subject-Lawyers Agres That the
Affair Is Perfectly Legal.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla, Jan 2.--The Duval
Athletic club made another statement to
the public, the first part of which Is de-
voted to a history of the club and the pro-
posed Corbett- Mitchell hght. A new and
interesting part of the statement en-
bodies letter to the governor. written
by Mr.. Bowden. 1t Is as follows:
II notice from the newspapers that you
are credited with having said that the
plan of proceedings instituted against
Corbett and Mitchell was a collusive one
between those interested in the contest
and the officers of this county. You will
remember thnt made this suggestion to
you during my absence In Tallahassee, to
which you demurred, but afterwards told
me to go back to jacksonville consult my
attorney and bring any legal proceedings
that would convince you that the contest
we propose to have was not an illegal one
you remember you further told me
that 1t was not personal matter with
you to stop this proposed contest, but, as
the executive, 1t was your duty to do so as
long as you felt that 1t was violation of
the law. Now, governor, wish to say
that as far as the collusion is concerned
your officers here are just as innocent az
you are yourself. Our object in bringing
this test was to satisfy ourselves, as well
as you, that we were not violating the law.
Governor, you also remember In our
conference as to bringing the matter be-
fore the supreme court / objected for the
reason that we could not fully argue to
the supreme court our side Of the case,
and to ask the supreme court II prize
fights were unlawful would be to simply
receive the answer yes We do not pro-
pose to have prize fight. or anything like
a fight, and my efforts in drawing up con-
tracts, ETC., have been with that one OBJ
ject, to eliminate everything pertaining to
fight, and to only have a scientific glove
contest, pure and simple. Another reason
that did not like to bring this matter be-
fore the supreme court was that upon my
arrival home from Tallahassee was told
by one of your closest friends that in con-
yersation with you upon this subject you
had waved your hands toward the su-
preme court chambers and said that you
had all agreed it was against the law"
The statement continues;
"While this letter was in transit and
waiting for reply from Governor Mitch
ell, which reply the governor was assured
should be confidential one, the county
solicitor took advantage of our liberality
OF not pushing in the habeas corpus pro-
ceedings and mol pressed the cases against
Corbett and Mitchell, thus depriving us
of the adjudication Of the highest court
open to US.
"Whereupon we sent telegram to Gov
ernor Mitchell asking him to submit the
matter, as promised our representative to
the supreme court, which he refused to do"
The club then made public the an
nouncement that the fight would come
off, the governors assertion notwith-
standing
A prominent attorney told of a confer.
ence Of attorneys, at which the question
of the legality of a city ordinance permit
ting boxing matches was discussed. The
conclusion reached was that since the city
had given the boxers the right to come
together within the limits of the corpora
ton, then the city was bound to protect
them in the event of opposition from any
source whatever. If the contest was stop
ped by order Of the governor then the city
was liable for damages. 10 is also said
that on the strength of this opinion the
governor and attorney general, upon look
ing over the matter, found that the Duval
people had the upper hand and determined
to allow the contest to proceed unmo-
Tested.