Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-01-05
TURF PEOPLE ARE =
ALL STIRRED UP
Agitation in New York Caused
by Gov. Hughes War on
Bookmaking at the
Tracks.
BY Clarence L. Cullen.


correspondence that Gov. Hughes wouldi
seek the extirpation of racing from the
state of New York has been most sig
nally verified. Gov. Hughes. In his an
nual message. made public a couple OF
days ago. administered his first blow.
and a surprisingly vigorous one, at rae;
ing within the confines OF the Emptrea
state. Washingtonians Interested In rac-S
ing no doubt have acquainted themsefvesd
with the terms of the governors allu-a 4
sions to New York state racing. Evsnij
those who had good reason to know thata
the governor sooner or later would makaa
such an attack were surprised at thai
force Of personal feeling that could cas-
lily be read between the lines of his at.
tack. He made it very manifest for onos
thing. that he himself is against the con-S
tinuance of racing here from the PERSONAL
as well from the legal side. :
Whatever may be the outcome, he cer.,
tainly has the high turf authoritiess
guessing at this stage OF it. They arc
not giving anything out as to the plansi
are apparent that there will be one ire
mendous lineup at Albany against any
measure looking to the abrogation or
even the modification of the Percy-Gray,
law. The turf authorities have been
compelled to line up at Albany before;
when racing in this state stood in danger.
but never when the menace was so big
and looming at II is now. Gov. Hughes is
an executive who has little way OF
bending the legislature to his will, and
when the legislature refuses to be bent
he knows how to put it up to the indi-
vidual legislators in a fashion that
doesn't do them a particle of good. Gov.
Hughes takes the simple view that rac-s
ing in New York state is against the con-
stitution of the state, and that thereforei
IL Is MS business to see that it is done
away with. BY racing is meant the
bookmaking that goes with It, for IL Is of !
course impossible to dissociate the two
without bookmaking there could be no
racing. -
Support of Fair Associations.
The strongest clutch which the turf
authorities Will have in fighting an anti
racing measure at Albany will BE-. OF
course, that large sum of money which,
goes annually to the agricultural socie- !
Ties and the county fairs out of the sross
receipts of the New York race tracks,
The recipients of this largesse have he /
come used to getting 1t. and they want IL
ana VIII play along with the turf authori.l
ties 10 the end that they continue to re-
people the assistance of the upstate leg
lslators. 1T should he remembered too
that 1t is only the big, populous centersl
ildt nave TO contend with what is called
n
round that the rural lawmakers are more
or less Indifferent to any reforms that
afect only the cities. They are likely to
| be considerably more Indifferent, OF
course when such a reform is one which
would probably involve the sweeping
away of considerable bit of revenue
Wnlch is devoted to the comfort and sat-
lsfactIon of their rural constituents
GOV hughes. in the estimation Of some
OF the keenest of his friends made a mis-
n, he
that special appropriation might be
MADE toward the agricultural societies
ana the county fairs to atone for their de-.
private of revenue through the CLOSING
of the racetracks. II that closing should
come to pass. These friendly critics Of
the governor take the view that such an
appropriation would be in the nature of
sop to certain interests. a bride to the
upstate folks to help along the work Of
stopping the state of New York frory,
compromising a felony. They saw that
racing, with the bookmaking attachment.
is undoubtedly felonious under the state
consttution-Gov Hughes himself says
so-and that therefore it ought to be
stopped without any oing or CLOSING
| over of anybody.
Proposed War on the Tracks.
The fight. at any rate. is going to be a
big one. The turf authorities. rendered
desperate by a contemplation of even the
investments in racing around here. let
alone the cessation of the vast revenues
of such tracks. will. of course battle
tooth and nail against any step liable TO
interfere with them. But the party Of
the second part is pretty formidable, too.
In the first place. the folks who are hon.
eStly against racing on account of the
so-termed evils thereof are already or
ganizing. They're going to have a CAM
palgn of education on the subject Of rae
l1ng. They're going to get every preacher %
priest and rabbi amenable to their view
to preach against racing. They're going
to get out literature on the subject and,
the thing promises to frame UP into a .
matter of public pressure brought to bear
upon the legislators. which II will be
mighty hard for them to resist or defy.
Then. too 1t must not be forgotten that
the poolroom crowd. revengeful over the
way they've been shut out of the tracks +,
around New York. make q tremendously
powerful outfit. They are thoroughly
banded together, and have all kinds OF
money, and from entirely different
motive. they want racing to cease in New
York state. Effectually shut out of BUSH
ness themselves, they want to get back
at the turf authorities who have shut them
out, and they have most ingenious law
yers working up their end OF 1t. Their old
cry, that If it is legal to gamble on tho
horses one side Of the fence II is legal
to gamble on them on the other side OF
elimination to permit track gambling
when the poolrooms are shut down-wiH
be laken up with renewed vigor. and
there are many thousands of persons in
this neighborhood not particularly inter- .
ested in the racing business one way or
the other who will perceive that, after
all, such a contention has pith. II 1t
comes to the spending of offside money.
the pooIroom people can and will match
dollar for dollar with the turf authorities
One of the old poolroom kings. multi
millionaire. already has spent something
like S200OGO in warfare extending over
fifteen years against the racetracks that
"interfered with his business as he p
called it. back in the nineties and now
he calmly announces that he has $500. 900
more to slap up against the WALL in
continuing the battle against the high
turfmen who singled him out for attack,
at that time. Nobody who knows this
man believes for moment that he Is !;
bluffing. either.
Tracks Suppressed Elsewhere y
When 1 was first informed on the very
highest authority, some three months ago, =
that the governor of this state would take
up the AK against racing here. and so wrote
for The Sunday Star, I was told by the =
incredulous ones that such thing was
the unl.keliest thing in the world: that
Gov. Hughes knew thet racing couldn't !,