New-York tribune., 1908-11-18
JUDGE DIXIE CENSURED
BETTING QUESTION UP
4n,elIate Diufsior, Thinks He Should
Hare Ruled on Indictment.

Hare Ruled on Indictment.
-,s~a rfke O. the County Court. Brooklyn.
criticised yesterday by the justices OF the Ap-
-A7Isee Division Of the Supreme Court for not in
vss1iEztfng mere carefully .nto the terms OF the
indictment found against William Engernan. Chris
+spher Fitzgerald and John G. Csvanagh. who were
arrested OF July Is AZ the Brighton Beach race
track for giving out what is known as advance
Information sheets E1geman was president and
fitzgerald secretary Of the Brighton Beach Racing
Association The advance information sheets
contained the names OF the horses starting in the
-zoes and the names OF the Jockeys
Counsel for the racing interests demurred TO the
sndic-nent refusing accept its terms in the
sense n which they used by Assistant District
Attorney Elder n drawing I'D The instrument
Judge Dixie sustained the demurrer. permitting the
csse 70 be taken 10 the Appellate Division. that
rhe justices cf the higher court might define the
terms and determine the validity of the indict-
-nent- AT che tine Judge Dixie handed down 3
h-7et opinion in which said that he would refuse
- pass upon the doubtful terms.
Assistant District Attorney Elder, who had
charge of the enforcement OF the Agnew-Hart laws
n Kings County last summer. and drew up the
Indictment appeared yesterday before the Appel
isre Division 70 exp-ain the the in the
Indictment and 10 argue for its validity The de-
fendants were represented by Joseph 3 Auerbach
and william 9 De Witt. but Mr.. Cavaneghs case
VIII not be argued until December /. as John c.
stanchfeld, his counsel. is busy in another court
As soon as Mr.. Elder got TO his feet Justice
Woodward wanted 70 know II the case should Do
heard NJ Elder replied that It was an i'm
Po-rant one and should decided Justice
Woodward then declared that the County Court
should have made more thorough investigation
before allowing the case Je 90 up on appeal Mr.
Elder declared that he did not think that Judge
Cake had been sinking his duty.
How can you account for II them" asked JUS
cce Woodw
NJ De Witt then told the Court that Judge Dixie
had desired to expedite the and had not tried
70 shrk his work.
~ have the highest respect for Judge Dixie
u7sn and judge said Justice jerks. but in
his brief opinion Judge Dixie says I'm not going
70 decide this matter viii give no opinion Let
TIE Appellate Division decide II seems as though
re vas tryiag 70 shove OF the original decision
upon chtt court
NJ. De Wit explained that the action Of Judge
Dixie rad plenty OF precedent, and that the refusal
- the 5udge 70 pass upon the new points showed
-1o5esty-
Suppose I was modest said Justice jerks.
and sent up nv cases 10 the Court OF Appeals =?
We have a right 70 the opinion Of the Judge in
this matter
The Court finally decided hesr the argument
NJ Elder explained that he considered the words
device and -apparatrs'' used statutes ap-
Piled anything that owned and used 70 ad-
vance gambling
is newspaper which prints racing news aP-
pz-stus device FOR gambling asked Justice
jerks
r II was owned and 1lsed for the purpose Of
gambling = would be- replied MI Elder
= suppose the people could bring an action
against the owners Of G paper which was used for
E7-7lE out information gambling asked Jus
-f-e Jenks
Ne replied NJ. Elder. for gambling means
exactly that The paper would have be used
zH5 operated FOR the purpose Of advancing gam
sing
-Bir whitelaw Reid SAID Justice jerks. 7 be-
szre Is the owner Of The Nev-York Tribune and
ths psper contains information Of the races Could
be fndiC-ed7''
n EI5-r explained that ar Indictment could be
brought against suF one ard that II II drawn
Fl re proper form il would be deuurrabIe
Whether ~ not the charges II contained false
Then the owners Of the best religious papers
oo1ld n indicted" remarked Justice jerks
There could - an Indictment replied Mr
FI5e-. and there could be in the case of this
Piece y paper which called advance information
z0d Used tor gambling parposes'
n A'1erbach then began his argument
The -hngs that heve happened since the pas
ssEe = he Agnew-Hart law have been little short
~ scsndalous' he said. The police have treated
ne decisions Of the court with fippancy. Men
have been arrested for mere betting The police
have declared that they did propose be
Eui5ed nv court decisions. Men have been turned
from the racetrscks simply because they were
Known 70 be frequent gamblers. Men were re-
fused the privilege OF making casual bets The
police have established z kind OF terrorism Mr.
Elder has taken the position that 10 her is crime
4 be- ~ common law was enforceable e con
tract The Agnew-HsTt bill cid not change the
ztarus % advance information and make II a
gambling device These might have given out
The New-York Tribune The New York Evening
Post for advance information Gambling devices
things used BY gamblers II their trade and in
their gambling houses Does this mean that man
should De for having advance Srforrna ton
o. q paper that might be a newspaper and sent
- prison z felon2'
NJ De WITT told the Court that every newspaper
f. town gave advance information from which the
raCetrack followers 'doped' out the way they
would place their money.
The Court wiz decide in few days the validity
Of t-le Indictment