The Washington herald., 1908-04-03

stated that they would vote for the
bills on final passage. They are
Grnttan, Of Albany, and Knapp, of
Clinton.
"rm for the bills" said Grattan.
"My vote for the amendment doesn't
mean that l am against the main
proposition"
81 shall vote for the bIIIS,S said
Knapp. II only voted for the
amendment 20 be fair to the busi-
ness interests involved"
senator Agnew predicted that the
bills will pass with at least twenty
eight votes.
Albany. April 2-Senator Thomas f.
Grady. the minority leader Of the upper
| house. through his sharp display Of par
liamentary tactics, to-day. saved the rae
I ing game, temporarily. at least
/ But for him, it is more than likely that
| the bills which are designed 20 prevent
race-Tack gambling would have passed
the senate to-day. and would have been
in the possession Of the governor by to-
morrow. lie was assisted. unwittingly.
/ perhaps By Lieut. Gov Chanler. but
/ when the minority leader saw the ad-
vantage he had obtained. he pressed II
and. as result. the object sought for
-delay-was won.
/ The bills OF Assemblyman Hart. which
have been substituted for those Of Sen
ator Agnew. which were advanced 10 a
1 third reading in the senate last night.
have been made special order in the
senate for next Wednesday.
Jockey Club Victory.
This was the first victory scored IN
the interests of the Jockey Club. when
the session began to-day. delay was what
the opponents Of the Agnew-Hart bills
wanted.
on the other hand. Gov. Hughes was
insisting upon prompt and immediate ac-
ton. The governor wanted the bills dis
posed OF before the day was over.
He was reddy 10 send any number OF
special messages as well as emergency
messages, 10 the senate. Under emergency
messages. the senate could have passed
Senator Agnew's bills. and once they left
the possession of the senate they would
have been promptly acted upon by the
assembly. so there was no good in trying
10 prevent these bills from coming up
But the Hart bills were different. Ihey
were in the form OF final passages and
had been found to he correct and an
emergency would be Of no avail
The anti-race track betting people
wanted action deferred until Monday. at
least. They had to secure two more Re
publican senators to prevent tine passage
Of the bills. They are confident that be-
tween now and next Wednesday they can
get these votes.
Lose One Senator.
To-day they lost one more OF their num-
ber, Senator Grattan. Of Albany. The
latter. though has stated he will act as
the Republican organization OF his county
directs.
Senators Agnew and Raines conferred
for some time before the session OF the
senate to-day. Rules were gone over to
ascertain how the bills could be passed
to-day. Senator Raines. from the outset.
said that the anti-race track betting bills
could not, in the natural order Of events.
be passed to-day But friends Of Gov
Hughes were insistent that they should.
The bills desired by the State superin-
tendent Of banks were a special order in
the senate for to-day and il was known
that Senator Grady was ready to talk
against them.
When the order Of messages from the
assembly was reached. Senator Agnew
moved that the bin of Assenlblyman Hart
repeating the Percy-Gray betting law
should be taken from the table. where II
had been placed upon its receipt last
Monday night. Senator Grady was on
his feet in an instant with an objection.
but the chair refused to sustain him. Sen
ator McCaTren insisted that the motion
TO take from the table should be sub
mitted to a roll call This was had, and
the motion to take from the table was
carried by vote of p TO 1s
Bills Not the Same.
Senator Agnew's request that the bill
be substituted for his similar measure was
not opposed. Neither did Senator Grady
oppose the motion to take from the table
Assemblyman Hart's penal code amend
ment bill But when Senator Agnew asked
that it be substituted for his similar bill.
Senator Grady was on his feet with
point Of order at once He claimed that
the Hart bill was not Identical with any
bills on the senate flies. In this he was
right. for the Agnew penal code amend
ittAA btilS lAdQ Dttn dllleNOtu the nfRnI
before and had been reprinted. but the
newly printed bill had not been placed on
the files. He demanded that the bills be
compared. II was there that he secured
what he had been after-the delay.
Lieut.. Gov. Chanler promptly referred
the bills to the revision committee for
comparison. During the remainder of the
day. numerous conferences were held.
Willing 10 Compromise.
When it was seen that the bills were
tied mp effectually for the remainder of
the day, Senator Raines was willing to
accept compromise. Senator Agnew Wis
tied the governor and had a talk with
him. AS result of the conference, 1t was
agreed that the bills would not be taken
up until next week.
The bills were then made a special order
Tor nnal passage for next Wednesday.
Whether or not two more Republican
Senators can be recruited to vote against
the bills is something no one can tell
The emissaries OF the jockey clubs are
busying themselves now and speak with
confidence However. they have been do
ing that from the outset In legislative
circles. there is much criticism heard
about the way the Jockey Club has han
died this matter. and very little sympathy
is heard for that organization in the event
of the bills passing.