The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1909-09-30
he WOuLO ENJOIN
GAMBLING GAMES
At THE SPRINGS
Attorney General Bingham
Would Have Court Issue
A Permanent Injunction
Against Festive Tiger.
PUBLIC WILL WIN BY
THE PLAN HE THINKS
Action of the State Official Is |
Directed Against the Hotels
At West Baden and French
Lick.
palladium Specially


Indianapolis, Sept. 30.-A scheme is
being worked out by which everybody
wins out in the law suits against the
French Lick and West Baden hotels
in which there formerly was gambling.
There will be a conference in a few
days between Attorney General Bing-
ham, Governor Marshall, Charles W.
Miller, former attorney general, c. c.
Hadley, judge of the appellate court,
who was assistant attorney general
when the cases were brought, and
John w. Kern. attorney for the French
Lick Springs hotel company and the
West Baden Springs Hotel company.
At this conference it is believed a
plan will be worked out by which the
suits will be dismissed and a perman-
ent Injunction be granted to prevent
the hotels always from allowing gam
bling On their premises. Then this
will be the end of the litigation that
was started nearly four years ago.
History of the Case.
1t will be remembered that up to
four years ago gambling was carried
on at the French Lick hotel owned
by Thomas TaggarJ and at the West
Baden hotel The state had not been
able to stop it because Orange county
did not take enough interest in the
matter to put a stop to it. Then it
was that Governor Hanly got busy
He called in Attorney General Miller
and instructed him to raid the places.
Miller organized the raiding party and
all of a sudden it swooped down on
the two hotels. Thousands of dollars
worth of gambling paraphernalia was
seized. There was everything in the
heap of junk that could possibly be
used to extract money from a mans
pocket except a billy. All of this
stuff was carted off to Paoii and plac.
ed in the charge of the sheriff of
Orange county for safe keeping until
tie men arrested could be tried. Near
1y sixty affidavits were filed against
the managers of the gambling resorts
and their employees and others.
In Sheriff's Hands.
All of this valuable paraphernalia
remained in the hands of the sheriff
of Orange county from that time I'M
til a few weeks ago, when the state
if to destroy it according to law. The
cases against the gamblers and gam
bling resort managers have never
been tried because the defendants
have always been able to stave them
off under one preteSt or another. Fin
ally they were set for October 4, but
later a continuance was again granted
and they were put off indefinitely.
There have been motions for changes
of venue and everything else that
could possibly delay the trials.
Soon after the prosecutions were
started Governor Hanly directed At
torney General Miller to begin suits
against the French Lick Springs Ho-
tel company and the West Baden
Springs Hotel company to forfeit the
charters of those companies. both of
which were Incorporated under the In
diana laws The grounds on which the
suits were based was that the COM
panies had exceeded their corporate
powers by violating the law which pro-
hibits gambling and makes it a crime.
The complaints alleged that the cor
porations had no right under the law
to permit gambling on their premises
and that to do so was violation OF
their charter rights.
Leased the Premises.
1t was not alleged in the complaints
that Taggart's company or the West
Baden Hotel company operated the
games on theF premises, but that