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ILLINOIS RACING AND BETTING. states Attorney John "J- Healy is credltedywith having said within two days past, "I am in favor of racetracks and have never opposed them. I do oppose gambling on the tracks, however, and will while I am states attorney for Cook county. Gambling cannot be legalized in Illinois by the state legislature, Robert E. Burke or any one else. Racing is all right; gambling is all wrong." Tills amounts to stating that Illinois law makes betting illegal and that as a sworn officer he will do his duty in prosecuting offenders violating the statutes providing penalties for betting transactions. The statement that racing is all right is super-liuous. Racing is as legal as selling fnerchandise. But constructing and maintaining a racetrack is expensive. Purses and stakes to attract good horses call- for large sums of money. The officials and minor employees must he paid for their services and that calls for more money. All around conducting racing is a costly business. It cannot be carried on without reimbursing revenue. As the sport has been conducted that revenue is derived from fees for admission, from concessions for selling refreshments, from the sale of programs and, directly or indirectly, from betting privileges. In the east little direct revenue is derived from betting. But the great crowds that throng the New York tracks go there mainly to bet and at for admission, pay the bulk of the receipts of the racing organizations in gate money. Thus in an indirect way it is betting that pays the bills, for. few of the people who go to view the decision of a Suburban or a Futurity would be in attendance If they did- not know perfectly well that they would be able to back the horse of their fancy. In the west the bookmakers as a rule pay 00 per diem for the privilege of conducting business and this constitutes a direct revenue from betting that goes far toward meeting the expenses of the sport. Again as In the east, the people who attend go to the track to bet, It may be on only one horse or It may be on several, but at any rate as well as desiring to see the beautiful creatures run they fully expect and desire to bet they can pick a winner or two. Also, as in the east, the majority would not go to the track at all If they did not expect to combine speculation with observation. The obvious and truthful deduction Is that high-class racing cannot he maintained without the support of the revenue derived in one fashion or other from betting. Carter II. Harrison demonstrated this to perfection when he wrecked Washington Park. There is no getting away from this. And Mr, Healy is probably right when he says gambling cannot be legalized In Illinois by the state legislature." The Supreme Court decision in the Swigert case points that way strongly. There have been decisions In other states that wagering on a horse race is not gauibllnr. But that Is not very pertinent In Illinois In the face of the decision referred to. In the course of time there will again be Chicago racing. But it will be, as It has been in the past, through tolerance only.
