Evening star., 1937-02-05
WAR0N RACE BILL:
PLEDCEDBY2NEW
COMMITTEE FOES
10-to-8 Victory of Measure
Faces Reversal on Point
of Order.
FAVORABLE REPORT
DECIDED BY PROXIES
Bates of Massachusetts, and
Shafer of Michigan to Wage
Battle on Floor of House.
BY lanes E. CHM.

BY IAMES E. CHINN.
Two new members of the House
District Committee-Representatives
Bates of Massachusetts, anG Shafer Of
Michigan, both Republicans-prepared
today to wage a vigorous fight against
the Norton bill to legalize horse racing
in Washington.
Squeezed out of the District Com
mittee by a l0-to.8 record vote. the
measure is now headed for the House
calendar, where it will be ranked in
Importance among propose District
legislation second only to the bill
to repeal the red rider" to the 1886
appropriation act. Two of the ten
favorable votes were those of abb
sentees - Representatives Kennedy,
Democrat, of Maryland and Nichols,
Democrat, of Oklahoma. These ballots
we're counted as official because they
went unchallenged in the committee
Both Bates and Shafer, new mem
bers of the House, opposed the bill in
committee, but despite defeat there.
they propose to carry the fight to the
floor of the House when it is called
up for consideration. Shafer will
battle against approval Of the measure
chiefly as a protest against what he
describes as the tactics employed to
railroad it out of the committee
Bates also cannot understand why
hasty action was sought in view of an
announcement by Chairman Norton
that the bill will not be called up Mon
day. the next District day" in the
House.
Bates Sees Racing Racket"
But the opposition of Bates is more
far-reaching. He said his native State
of Massachusetts, has had some sad
experiences" with both legalized horse
and dog racing, and he wants the Dis
trict to benefit thereby.
Within an hour-and- a half ride of
Boston, Bates explained, there are
four race tracks. Two of them are
in Massachusetts,, another near Provi-
dence, r. l., and the third at Salem,
N. H., close to the Massachusetts,
border.
From what have seen and heard
racing has developed into racket"
he declared. Racing has gotten into
control of the gambling element and
I know there is very strong sentiment
against it in Massachusetts,.
The promoters of the race tracks
are encouraging people to gamble by
giving away tickets of admission to
the tracks. Many of these tickets
have fallen into the hands of children.
And since racing has been legalized
in Massachusetts,, the people have
seen the defalcation of public officials
bank employees and others, who were
trusted with public funds that were
lost at the race tracks. Surely. you
don't want that condition in Wash
ington?
Il am sure legalized racing in the
District would encourage people to
gamble, and I don't believe Congress
should take the responsibility for i'm
planting in Washington a big gam
bling institution. Surely, this city
the Nations Capital-should set an
example for the rest of the country
And don't believe we should throw
our communities wide open to the
disastrous effects Of either horse or
dog racing"
Bates has been mayor of the his
toric town of Salem, Mass, since 1924
and he still holds that position, travel
ing back and forth each week end
to handle both his duties as a men,
ber of Congress and those that demand
his attention in Massachusetts,.
Shafer revealed he will attempt to
kill the racing bill on the floor of the
House by raising a point of order
against the procedure followed by the
committee in reporting it. Under
strict parliamentary rules, he said, the
measure should have been read for
amendments in the committee before
a vote was taken, and this was not
done. Moreover. he contends, the
measure was not favorably reported
by the vote of a majority of tn men,
bers present at the meeting.
Proxies Decide Report.
There were Is members at the
meeting, of whom voted for the
bill and 8 against it. The 10-to-8
vote resulted from the use of the
unchallenged proxies.
Chairman Norton, who sponsored
the bill, doe. not agree with Bates that
' ,shington will suffer in any way
from legalized racing. arguing that,
on the contrary, it will benefit in sew
eral ways.
First, she points out. the operation
of a race track here will virtually put
bookmakers out of business and bring
wagering on horse races into the
OPEN" Second. she estimates the
operation of track will yield the
District at least $500,000 a year in
additional revenue at a time when
it is struggling to find sufficient funds
to balance the budget and provide
some urgently needed public improve
ments.
Mrs. Norton also explained that
should legalized racing in the Dis
trict develop some of the unfavorable
things predicted by its opponents, her
committee would BE- the first to pro-