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MANY ARGUMENTS IN FAVOR OF RACING. Distinguished Advocates Present Their Views to the Codes Committee. i New York. February lb. — The ln-aring on the Agnew-IIart bills at Albany today was liefore distinguished company, among those who went to the capital in the interests of the turf were: General Bray Ion Ives. J. II. Alexandre, Harry P. Whitney, James B. Haggiit. F. K. Sttirgis, former mayor Hugh Grant, W. P. Thompson. Frank C. Bishop, E. C. La Montague. Philip .1. Dw.vcr. W. A. Chan hr. II. P.. Bell. V. A. Kiigeman. J. P. Whitmore, August Belmont, C. II. Hyde. .1. It. Foley. James R. Keene. Cornelius Fellowes, II. T. Oxnard, Jaincs Butler. S. If. Parsons. John K. Cowdin. C. Howard Ilavidson. F. J. Griswohl. Andrew Miller, Colonel Jacob Itnppert. It. T. Wilson, Jr., Fred Lawrence, W. S. Ianshawe. Thomas M. Hamilton. Elliott C. Cowdin. Congressman S. R. MacMillau and S. S. How land. Mr. Belmont made a brief argument against the bills favored by wm governor. He argil. d that horse racing was, under its present management iu Ibis state, intended to improve the breed of horses and that betting was merely an incidental, but also, he was frank to admit, an indispensable feature. "If this bill pass-s." he added, "the re- I spectable element at least will vanish from the tracks." Mr. Belmont concluded by announcing that the Jm key Club will me and try to devise new resolutions governing betting at the tracks. Mr. Aucrbaeli criticised the governors message severely as alt -mpting to Influence the legislature. "You have gotten rid of the lobby, but lieware lest other inliui-nce- take its place." Hajc-r |. p. .bihnstiHi spoke next. He thought the temptations of the track were overestimated. "The. t real harm is not done by the betting in the open but by what is done under cover. You ought to love the law for the enemies it has made. The people who class us all as gamblers do us an injustice. I. for instance, have been connected with breeding and racing a long time, and yet I would not know how to place a bet." He offered a large numlier of petitions. .Lames It. Keene next spoke on the effects of the bills. He said: "I think the bill would simply transfer the betting to the poolrooms, so I can see no moral issue involved." Senator McCarren asked Mr. Keene how much he bet last year. "I dont l et." was the reply. "1 just race horses. There are today just 100 poolrooms." he added, "in- New York, and you always will have them, and the only cont rol you have over this evil is on this great New York circuit. I warn you if you pass this bill the racing associations will no longer take the trouble and spend the money to prevent the information getting out that the poolrooms can use. "Governor Hughes brought a narrow mind to bear on this question and only cynsidered one side, as he knew very little about it." Mr. Keene then went over the figures of the financial loss to the state if racing were stopped. He was roundly applauded. Ex-Governor Frank S. Black could not be present, but his law partner appeared for the fair associations against the anti-racing bills. The turf representation made a strong impression on the committee as against the reformers and lioolnxnn element. There will be another hearing within a week or ten days.
