The San Francisco call., 1908-07-03
NEWS OF THE COUNTIES BORDERING SAN FRANCISCO BAY
ANTI RACFTRACK
LAWS PROPOSED
District Attorney Brown OF Ala
media County Calls Upon the
Voters to Act

"Is racetrnck gambling serious
enough 30 demand the attention and
consideration of the citizens of Alameda
county: I say 70 you conservatiVciy
uad carefully that when You go TO the
polls upon the third day of November
and vote for your state senator and
your assembIyman their attitude upon
this question is the most important
consideration resting upon you In de-
termininE whom yOH shall elect 10 rep
resent you in the state Iegislature"-
Prom address of District Attorney
Everett j. Brown of Oakland.
OAKLAND, July 2.-District Attorney
DVerett J. Brown. in an arraignment of
t5e raeetrsck and the incalculable evils
81 Haeetraek gambling delivered before
d large audience in the First Meth
oeist Episcopal church tonight, declared
that one Of the predominating causes
Of crime among all classes of the ma
tlon, snd particularly among the young,
was the gambling conducted in con-
neetion with raeetracks. He said
do not come before you in the ca
pscity of . moralist, nor to speak upon
ethics. nor to touch upon the philosophy
OF Rambling-whether gambling IN It
self is right or WRONG. ! come TO You
as one who has rubbed elbows with the
men who are dlling our penitentlar1es,
and what I say to you tonight is the
crystallization Of long trend OF
thought upon my part. l am going 10
speak TO you solely upon the eVll
effects, as I have seen them, attendant
upon racetrack gam bling IN this state.
and especially at Emeryville, here in
our very midst.
RACETRACkS PROTECTED
If racetrack gambling is one of the
causes that is sending the American
youth within the walls of our penlten-
tisries, then II is a burning question.
over 60 per cent OF the men confined In
our state prisons at San Quentin and at
Folsom are under the age Of 26, and 1t
has been my own personal experience 70
see many boys under the age OF Y
years sent to prison labeled forever a
felons. Is il not then important for US
70 stop and consider one of the prln-
cipal causes that is sending our young
men 70 the pesitentiary?
The utter inadequacy Of the present
sprea6 Of gambling was ViVidly illus
trsted by the speaker, who declared
that the very silence OF our penal codes
upon this subject gives the word OF
approval to il. He continued:
IL is 2 maxim Of law that the mention
Of q part of q species means the ex-
cIusion Of those others that are not
mentioned. j on can turn TO section 300
OF the penal code. which deals with
Prohibited forms Of gambling, and you
viii hnd great many forms mentioned
therein. You viii find faro, roulette,
monte. ronoo, tan, fantan, studhorse
poker, seven and a half, tWenty-one
hokey pokey, banking games. percent
age games, and so on, but not a word
about selling pools al the racetrack or
in connection with racing. 1 tell you
that there is one place. and only one
place, TO reach the root of this evil and
Alu H. and Lhat place IS the fountain
head OF the law making Of this state,
the state legislature. and il there is
going TO be law against gambling at
nacetracks il viii have to be secured
by the efforts OF the people Of this
state.
SOURCE OF GRIMM ALITA
I have faith ia lie people OF this
state and 1 believe that a large ma
Jority Of them. i tley could have an
opportunity Of expressing their wishes
would vote to abolish ali gambling in
connection with racetracks. I say gam
bling in connection with racetracks be-
cause l believe that TO be by far the
most pernieious and far reaching form
OF gambling that we have.
60 10 the police headquarters, go to
the sherins Office, go to your detective
agencies and read over the kilograms
that these officers receive from officers
of other localities looking for some es-
capped criminal or fugitive from Justice
IN a great many Of these kilograms you
viii ind these words: He frequents
racetracks."
If you had been with me during the
last few years and seen bright. manly
looking young men standing before the
bar OF Justice charged with felonies; if
you had gone with me to their cells in
Ihe county Jail and talked with them
about the causes which brought them
70 thelr pltlful plight, you would have
found them reaching back, in many in
stances, to yonder racetreck at Emery
vile.
LURE OF SUDDEN RICHES
The prosecutor described many of the
cases which had come within his per
sonal experience where young men of
good families. holding responsible po-
sitions, had been led into secret en-
bezzlement by the alluring prospect OF
acquiring riches at the racetrack. In
. each instance they were led on and on.
from theft TO theft, until their pecul9-
tions could be no longer concealed.
and then the raerciless arm of the law
descended upon them and they were
branded as felens forever Continuing
Brown said:
1ns gambler cannot work in the
ordinary pursuits Of life. He has his
heart set, as DR.. Jordan would saw
upon the short road to wealth and
salaries of 500 q month or an Interest
IN a business paying 5000 is too slow
5e sees before him the nbantoyn -
thousands, simply upon the perform
ance Of some horse on the track. The
man VINO plays the races first does it
II CONJUNCTION with his business: soon
his business interferes with pisvin1
the races, and all his time must be
given 70 the racetrack. An army of
men follow the races from one city fo
anOthef-idle leeches uDon fhe com
plunity, doing absolutely nothing for
the bettsrment Of society. but de9ra6-
ing 1t and tearing it down
AL CLASSES AFFECTED
Gambling incident to our racetracLs
is reaching every walk of life. the rich
the poor, the high, the low. the man
the woman, the old, the young. In
some Of the stores around the hsv
during the racing season, money is
collected from the clerks both rrer
and women, some Of whom recefve ae
low as IS a week, in sums of % ana S6
cents q day to be played on the races
either at the track or in the roan.,
gambling dens that are located ririt
within our cities.
IT is not simply the gambling a. fire
racetrsck that is pernicious the syan
bling right here in Oakland and in tba
other cities Of the state Is much more
<4F reaching. 1t IS impossible for the
ssslice departments or our cities TO roof
ont the evil as long as pool selling is
not made a crime under our state
laws.
. When you vote for the man 10 rem
resent you in the legislature. who nll1st
cast his vote for or against racing
you are acting in a matter that is
far more important than the selection