The morning journal-courier., 1908-09-18
THE GAMBLING ISSUE.

ssf'S AFFs'-s
 The candidacy of Gov Hughes Of New York for reelection this fan will be a singularly happy one, Quite ap- with such man, there will be little that is not entirely above. board and perfectly plain, Every vot. CT for or against Gov Hughes will have that gentleman's past record spread out before him like map; he will have that gentlemsns renewed assurances that he will continue as governor in the straight and narrow path on which he has long been steady and consist cnt traveller and, what Is more, every voter, no matter who he may be- can conscientiously assure himself that Governor Hughes will make good" on every one of his premises, or will un- derstand the reason why it Is 'impos- sible
 The election returns will reflect in the greatest measure the endorsement or lack of enlargement on the part of the voters of the activities of the gov. ernor In regard to race track gambling, The guns of the opposition have al- ready been trained upon his candidacy In this respect. The race track element Is no trivial contingent. Any one who has witnessed the gathering of tho countless thousands at the Brighton Beach race track, or at any of the scores of similar tracks throughout the state. anyone who has noticed the num- Der of men present and realized that the great majority of them are voters and have felt Governor Hughes action to be g bitter thrust at their own per sonai prerogatives-any one who has done that must realize the seriousness of the situation that Governor Hughes will have to meet.
 Yet, as pronounced as this feeling against Governor Hughes has been in certain quarters. the fact has been overlooked that this exemplary execu- tive has proceeded against race track gambling not so much because it is gambling per sc, but because he has rightly seen no reason why gambling In certain specified places should be al- lowed under a special enactment, when there is a constitutional enactment that makes gambling illegal everywhere throughout the state. Gov Hughes has readily and wisely comprehended the legal injustice of special legislation and the indignity that the latter must always mean to all legislation in gen eral Had there been special enact ment allowing only certain saloons to keep open on Sundays and had Gov, Hughes bent his every effort toward bringing about the repeal Of that spe- cial enactment in the interests of uni- form legislation under a general law forbidding the opening of any saloons in that state on Sunday it would now be quite as unfair to accuse him Of having the cause of temperance prim' arily In mind. worthy as 1t may be
 Admitting that Gov, Hughes is the strongest candidate the republican, could have nominated, the New York World among others calls attention tc evils quite evidently of gambling na' ture In Wall street, against which Gov Hughes has not taken action Says tho World: wall street gambling is 2 greater public evil than race-traci gambling, and the New York Stock Ex change Is more in need of governmen
 tai supervision" Very possibly this Il true. Very possibly governmental Inter
 ference should be forthcoming eithel at the hands of state or federal off1. cials. If the former, then where is { better equipped man to undertake tha
 work than Charles E. Hughes?