The Washington herald., 1908-06-12

his message 10 the legislature at the be-
ginning Of the year. II came as a sur
prise TO race-track people The book
makers and gamblers had been a little
skittish about Hughes when he was run
ming for office. but after year had
passed with no hostile move on his part
they had come 10 the satisfactory con-
clusion that he was entirely safe and
sane"
The situation which the governor sought
to correct was simply this; The constltu-
tion Of New York State prohibits gam
bling in every form, and lnstructs the
legislature TO pass appropriate laws TO
prevent IT. The penal code makes book
making and pool-selling a felony. punish
able by two years imprisonment or
fine
To circumvent the constitution the
Legislature. back In 1895, passed the Percy
Gray law, which, on its face. prohibits
gambling on the race tracks, but makes
the only penalty "A civil suit to recover
the amount wagered.
Along with the passage Of this law, the
legislature amended the penal code so As
10 make the felony penalty apply only to
cases where no other exclusive penalty
was provided. That left the race track
people free 10 20 the limit, while the lay
ing Of bets just outside the race track
fence was a crime punishable by two
years IN prison.
Appeals to the People.
Gov Hughes recommendations We're at
hrst received with Indifference by the
race track interests They apparently had
no idea that he would be able 70 carry
the reform through single-handed. They
figured that Mr.. Hughes would have TO de-
pend upon the politicians for his votes in
the legislature But the first thing the
governor did was TO ignore the bosses OF
his own party and appeal directly 10 the
people.
Letters began TO pour IN on the legisla-
ture from all parts Of the State. and the
race track people began 10 sit up and take
notice. August Belmont and James r.
Keene personally appeared before the
legislative committees in Albany and
pleaded for the killing OF the bills. on
the ground that they would be a menace
to the breeding of fine horses. Mr.. Keene
declared that the governor was brought
up with a narrow mind, but Hughes con-
tinued TO pound away.
The race track interests. in their fight
before the committees al Albany, enlisted
the services Of many notable lawyers in
cluding ex-GOv. Frank Black. Hughes
vert out before the public and answered
the arguments OF these lawyers in such
a convincing way that the race track men
finally admitted that they would do better
by carrying on a campaign of silence"
In the course Of his early fight, Gov
Hughes gave out a letter purporting TO
have been written 10 him by a. old gam
bier, in which II was broadly intimated
that a corruption fund was being raised
The publication of this letter raised a
great row. The assembly passed a reso-
luton calling on Hughes for the name
Of the man who had written the letter.
but he refused to give It up.
Senate Vote Tie.
The assembly. driven by public opin-
ion, passed the bills by large majority.
but when they came UP in the senate
on April the vote stood 25 TO 25 Just
before the vote. was taken the supporters
Df the bill found that Senator Fancner
was not in his seat He could not be
found, and the sergeant-at-arms was
sent out for him. while the vote was
held up. Fancher was found. The hands
Of his watch had been set back three
hours in some mysterious manner, and
L was said that he lad been lured away
by representatives Of the race
track interests.
Another thing that happened in con-
nection with that first vote was the |
forging of a telegram sent by Congress
nan Fassett to Senator Owen Cassidy. |
Fassett is the Republican boss In Cas- |
'idy's district and he advised Cassidy |
10 vote for the bills. The word mot" |
vas inserted in the message down at
Washington. and Cassidy voted against |
hem. The United States district attorney |
n the District OF Columbia Is now in |
this case before a grand |
ury- Cassidy did not change his vote |
o-day though.
Gov. Hughes after the defeat ~ bJs