The Lake County times. [volume] (Hammond, Ind.) 1906-1933, 1913-09-17

form on the part of the Governors
office and its application of the big
stick to the race track at Mineral
Springs does not suit the liberals at all.
According to the report, the Chicago
sports who opened and conducted the
Porter race track had the assurance
of persons high up in the Indiana Dem
ocratic machine that they could run
at Porter unmolested, and that they
took these men at their word and
made the attempt. What happened
to them is a matter of recent history.
They were driven out of the state at
the point of the soldiers guns.
There is another story about this
affair also. This story says that GER
tain influential Indiana Democrats,
who are prominent in the machine.
sought to obtain control OF the Por-
ter race track. because they believed
it would be money maker and because
they felt that they could operate the
place without molestation, because OF
their political pull and prominence.
They failed to get control of the track.
and the story says that the Chicago
promoters were then forced to quit
business as punishment for refusing to
ticians
But nobody here believes this story
for Governor Ralston is not the kind
of man to lend himself to any such
scheme as that. He does not believe in
gambling at race tracks and has said
so on many occasions. and his personal
integrity is such as to give no room
for anyone to believe that he would
allow a gang of corrupt politicians to
put over a scheme like this.
The men behind the Porter race
track scheme feel, it is said, tibet they
assured them that could run the track
without any molestation from the
state authorities. The parties who
have the assurance are men who are
assumed to be in position to know
what the state machine is going to do
at all times, but in this instance 1t ap-
pears that they fell down.
| The liberal element has been the
backbone of the Democratic party in
| Indiana for years, and the party has
| favored that element in many ways.
| The Democrats gave them the kind
of liquor legislation they asked for
and in other ways favored them. This
has led them to assume that they had
| a solid grease" with the party The
state machine has been in the hands
| of the liberal element for years, and
the machine has stood by the liberals.
| So, when the machine men assured the
Chicago sports that 1t would be all
right for them to run the Porter rae
| es the latter had a right to believe
them
The sore spot on the liberals bids
fair to make trouble for the Democrats
oot,f Tor
as said above. there IS talk that the
liberal element may split in Its al
| legiance to the party.
If the liberals turn against the ma
chine to punish it for it's double cross
there will be lively time in the DEM
! ocratic camp. But the machine Is so
strongly entrenched in power in the
| party that those who are watching
| the developments do not believe the
! instruction will accomplish anything.
! The machine is obliged to stand behind
| Governor Ralston in whatever he does.
| because the machine nominated and
, elected him and he still has more than
three years to serve as Governor. in
which he could. If he wished deal
| harshly with anybody that sough, 20
fight or embarrass him.
The Governors friends are india
nant over the criticism that he se~4
troops to Mineral Springs but failed
| to send them to Terre Haute to stop
gambling at the races and also that
! he does not send the troops to French
| Lick to stop gambling. They say that
the troops were not sent to Mineral
until after the local authorities had
confessed to him that they were power
| less to handle the situation while the
Terre Haute and French Lick author
| tiles have not made any such admission
| to him. They say these authorities In
| sist that they can handle their own
affairs and that under these circum-
stances the Governor has no right to
| send troops to those places.