The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1895-10-10
THE HOUSE COMMITTEE.

IfE ftOUSE COMMlI lee.
House judiciary committee No. 2 met
yesterday morning to hear the Dallas
side of the physical culture controversy,
but as the representatives of the steamer
Harvey's port of entry were not quite
ready to make their talks an adjourn
ment was taken until 1870. At that
hour the committee room was crowded
by interested spectators and Chairman
Cough having called the meeting to or
der ex-senator Pope opened the discus
sion against an emergency clause anti
prize fight bill He said he was here
purely as the representative of the Flori-
da Athletic club and the people of Dali
las and advanced the proposition that
an emergency clause bill would be class
legislation and unconstitutional, as it
would be aimed solely at one man. and
that its object would be to prevent the
COrbett-E 'itzsimmOns fight and to estop
the Florida Athletic club from executing
a contract. So far as he was concerned
he would shout for joy if every brute
who goes into the prize ring should drop
dead from the blows he received there.
1t was not q moral question, however, so
much as n question of vested rights and
he read an opinion from one of the judges
Of the United States supreme court to
the effect that the city council of San
Francisco didn't have the right to pass
an ordinance ordering that the cues of
all Cinnamon incarcerated i'll the city
Jail be cut off, to support his contention
that it would be unconstitutional to leg
islate against the Corbett-Fitzslmmons
fight.
Hon. Dudley Wooten spoke and said
he had not discovered any universal de-
sire among the people of Dallas Tor the
4 A., vi m NOT
apprehend that the committee would for
one minute consider a proposition based
upon the assumption that the State could
contract away its right of police regula-
ton. The States first contract was
with it's citizens to maintain law and
order and decency. AS to special legis-
lation, if it were true that 10 pass an
immediate effect bill would be to legis-
late especially against one individual,
every law defining and Furnishing crime
becomes a special law for the man who
violates it.
Col. VIM. Holland appealed to the COM
mittee to protect Dallas from this threat
ened invasion of toughs and prostitutes
in the name of decency and good gov
eminent. He said he represented the
men who made Dallas what it is and
paid the taxes there. We people of Dali
las, he averred, used to get together and
elect county and city officers, but it was
different now. Dan Stuart dictated who
was to hold the offices and it went, and
it was probably because Dan had a
vested right to run a gambling house in
Dallas while no one else could do so
that the question of vested rights had
been sprung in this case.
Colonel Wiley, who said he was a
representative of the Dallas Commercial
club, informed the committee five differ
ent times that he had credentials and
wasn't talking eX parte. He devoted
himself to showing how much the bust
ness interests of Dallas would lose if
the fight was prevented. Mr.. Mitten-
thai, Dallas dry goods merchant, who
asserted that he had only become ac-
quainted with Dan Stuart n few days
ago, and that accidentally, advanced the
same arguments that Colonel Wiley had
delivered himself Of
Judge Furman, who seemed to be riled
up about something. very dramatically
and emphatically denied that the Dallas
city and county officials were controlled
by gambler He undertook to read
the legislature n lesson for fooling the
people of Dallas into investing money in
the prize fighting business by confusing
the statutes to the extent of causing a
judge of the higher courts to decide that
there was no operative prize fight law.
Waxing eloquent, he started to light into
the governor for calling the extra ses-
sion but was called down by Chairman
Cough who informed him that the call
was not under discussion.
At the close of Judge Furmans re-
marks the committee. arose &c meet
again at > o'clock.
At the afternoon session the house re-
ceived n favorable report from the
finance committee on Wayland's bill ap-
propriating $4,000 to meet the ex-
penses of the session.
Several unsuccessful attempts we're
made to take a recess, pending a report
from judiciary committee No. I.
At $3.50 Chairman Cough of iudiciar-