The Washington times., 1934-02-23
By HARRY COSTELLO

By HARRY COSTELLO
District of Columbia will have
to worry along without horse
racing.
This much was made clear to-
day at the public hearing before
District Commissioners M elvin
Hazen and George Allen on the
Black bill, which would legalize
horse and dog racing in the Dis
trict under parimutuel system
of wagering.
After today's hearing the Com
missioners probably will be forced
to report unfavorably back to the
District House committee on the
bill, which committee will prob
ably kill the measure.
Opposition Organized
Opposition to the bill was Or
ganized and articulate. Support
of the bill, on the other hand,
was not concerted effort and was
haphazard. The opposition's show
ing was clear and definite in com.
parison to the showing Of the
support.
Support of the bill came from
only two sources: Simon A. Nc
Lane, former jockey for Admiral
Cary GraySon, who spoke for
about 5000 men in the building
trades, and Frank E. James, rep
resenting the Benning Citizens
Association.
No less than a dozen spoke foD
the opposition, including George
E. Sullivan, attorney. for the
Federation of Citizens Associ.
atoms, an organization with 100
member bodies and representing
about 10000 citizens; Deets Pick.
EFT. who spoke for himself; Ar.
thur L. Wynne, who spoke for
Wilbur La Roe, jr., representative
for the Civic Committee of Wash
ington Federation of Churches, an
organization claiming to speak for
$1,000 church members; Rev.
Philip ]. Murray, assistant pastor
of the Calvary Baptist Church.
who said he spoke for 1900
people; Mrs. Giles Scott Rafter,
prominent clubWoman and for.
mer president of a Parent Teach
ers organization; Rev. Charles H.
Butler, secretary of the Lutheran
Ministerial Association; Willard
A. Driggers. representing the
KenilWorth Citizens Association;
Henry N. Pringle, assistant super
intendent of the International
Reform Federation and Rev. Will
liam S. Chase, also connected
with the International Reform
Association.
Cummings Present
Andrew ]. CCy') Cummings
president of the Laurel Racing AS
ISOLATION, was invited by the Dis
trict commissioners to attend the
public hearing and gave factual
information to the Commissioners
in answer to questions.
The organized church opposi-
ton, generally speaking, based its
opposition to the bill on the foun-
dalton that wagering is gambling.
and gambling is against moral
law and public welfare.
Most of the minister-speakerS
dwelt on the evils of gambling, in
connection with racing, and said
to legalize wagering would be to
have a city saddled with "a racket
ridden by parasites"
A second argument offered by
the clergymen was legalized wag.
ering on horse racing in the Dis
trict would become an open invi.
tation to the youth of the city to
steal from employers, in order to
gamble.
Brought by Belmont
James, who spoke for the Ben.
ming Citizens Association, ex.
planned he was brought to this
city by August Belmont, noted
racing enthusiast, and he, James,
was never tempted to steal from
his employer in order to gamble.
He called upon the opposition to
accept his case as just as valuable
a criterion as the case Of any man
who had been sent to prison for
stealing from an employer in
order to gamble.
The hearing was enlivened con.
siderably when ICY" Cummings
undertook to answer a question
the morality of wager.
ing on horse racing. Big Cy re-
fused to agree with the clergymen
that taking a drink" or wager.
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