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NO VOTE ON GITTINS BILL FRIENDS OF MEASURE DECIDE TO DEFER-FINAL ACTION IN ASSEMBLY. Vote May Come Today or Measure May Go Over Until September, When New York Legislature Is Scheduled to Meet Again After Recess. New York, July 21. After a canvass of the Assembly toilav the friends of the Gittins hill decided not to attempt to pass it, as its defeat would meau that it could not be brought up again at the present session. Should enough votes be found for it, it may Ihj taken up tomorrow, though there is a fear that further consideration may be deferred until September. Today only four votes were needed to insure its passage. If the hill goes over until Septeiriber it will have to be introduced as a new hill and will have lo be passed again in the Senate. The Gittlus bill was passed in the Senate Wednes-dav bv a Democratic-Republican combination, six ite-publieans. voting for it and ten Democrats against it. When the bill came up last week it was lost by a vota of 20 aves to 22 noes. It requires 20 affirmative votes to pass a bill in the Senate. When that vote was taken Senators White, Argetsinger, Allen. Harden and Emerson were among the absentees. These live Senators were present Wednesday and vied for the bill, while Senator Anthony J. Gritlin Iem. of Manhattan, who voted against the bill last week, also voted for it. making the six needed votes necessary for passage. The vote on final passage was: Ayes Black, Cronin, Cullen. Duhamel, Frawley, Gittins, Gradv, Griffin, Harden, Harte, McClelland, McManus. OBrien, llamsperger, Sanuer. Saxe. Stil-wcll. C. I. Sullivan. T. D. Sullivan. White. Democrats, and Allen, Argetsinger, Brackett, Emerson. Ormrod and Sage, Republicans. Xoes Bavne, Rurd. Ferris. Fiero, Long, Looinis, Murtaugh. Pollock, Roosevelt and Wagner. Democrats, and Senators Bussey, Coats, Cobb, Heacock. i Hewitt. Hinman. Newcomb, Piatt. Rose, Thomas. k t Wainwright and Walters, Republicans. JL Absentees Griffith, Hamilton and Travis. Republl-cans. Senator Thomas Grady, of New York City, started the successful effort to have the bill passed in the upper branch of the Legislature. Crowds waited about the Senate chamber all day expecting the hill to be reached, and a delegation of citizens from Saratoga, insisting that their businesses would be ruined if the bill was not passed, were nervously awaiting the result, and went home tickled with it. By the time the Senate voted on the bill the galleries were crowded and all the available space for spectators on the floor of the Senate was taken up. Senator Gradvs motion to take the Gittins bill from the table was adopted after a debate by a vote of aves 2S, noes IS. A subsequent motion of Senator 4radv to reconsider the vote by which the Gittins bill was lost last week was then adopted by a vote of ayes 20. noes 22. In changing his vote on the proposition Senator Griffin said that he believed the Legislature should give the racing associations at Saratoga. Jamaica J.av and at Sheepshead Ray for the balance of this season a chance to demonstrate their good faith to prohibit gambling. He felt it was no more than fair to se! if they would live up to their contention that the Gittins bill was not "lowering the bars" to permit gambling. Then if the bookmakers and gamblers got to work and operated in the face of the Gittins law the Legislature could go ahead and pass stringent legislation and he would support it. Senator Newcomb opened the discussion upon the bill reviewing his argument when the bill was defeated last week. "A legal argument can be made for this bill, Ill admit," said Senator Newcomb, "but practically it will tie the hands of the prosecuting officers so far as race track gambling is concerned. If racing officials would refuse gamblers and bookmakers permission to enter the race tracks racing in this state would he built up. Then this bill would not be necessary. We once had an inspector of police in New York who kept marked men out of the citv without the aid of law simply by lelling them he would not permit them to be around the city. The race track officials can do the same with the Iwokmakers, and if they were not on the tracks there would he no public gambling and the racing officials need not he in fear of criminal prosecution for permitting gambling." Senator Ormrod Rep of Monroe said: "If I thought for a moment that the enactment of the Gittins bill would restore gambling on the race tracks I would oppose it to the bitter end, becausa no one is more opposed to gambling than I am. "But while I do oppose gambling I am not opposed to legitimate horse racing, and I like to see good horses. In fact. I am a breeder In a small way myself, and would like to see New York State bred horses lead the thoroughbred van. In our desire 1o end race track gambling we have gone so far, however, as to all hut kill horse racing and breeding of thoroughbred horses in New York State. Impelled, as I believe, by mistaking noise for popular sentiment we have enacted laws so despotic as to close allvrace tracks and discourage further breeding of thoroughbred horses. "Under the law as it stands today if a wager were made between two gentlemen upon the result of a race, and that fact came to the attention of the authorities, a director of a racing association, although in Europe and possessing absolutely no knowledge of the wager, is liable to indictment and subject to a prison sentence if convicted. Indeed, the Jaw goes further and would permit indictment of a director of a hotel corporation, a club or any other incorporated body if a game, of poker were played on its premises, despite the fact that such a director might not be within 1,000 miles of the place. That is unfair, uncalled for, unwise and unnecessarily- drastic legislation. "So long as it remains upon our statute books Ihe directors of race tracks, and wisely, too, in my Judgment, will not open their tracks to races. I believe that the majority of the people of New York State are in favor of horse racing under proper re-strictions. This bill makes it necessary to prove a Wk director of a racing association must have had guilty knowledge of gambling on the tracks before he can t Ik indicted or convicted. To me this looks like a fair, common-sense proposition." . "The only thing we do by the Gittins bill," said Senator Grady, "is to nut the law hack where it was i three years ago regarding directors and officers of racing associations." Senator Wainwright interrupted Senator Grady to inquire if Senator Grady believed the provision of law sought to be amended meant that any officer or director of a racing association could be prosecuted criminally even if he did not have knowledge of gambling on the tracks. "That is just exactly the point," replied Senator Grady. "Make no mistake about that. Senator, that is just what it does. Whether he knows it or not he is criminally responsible." "Then if the word knowingly were placed In the law the race track interests would be satisfied?" usked Senior Wainwright. "Certainly, Certainly," anserctl Senator Grady, "and that suggestion was made and Senator Gittins said lie would accept it when this bill was before the Codes Committee. It was urged then that the bill be amended to read that any officer or director who knowingly permits gambling should be prosecuted criminally. That would have been a fair and a more sensible proposition. But no", the very reverend clergy, including Canon Chase, objected to that word being put in the bill." Senator Grady said Senator Wainwright knew perfectly well that it was too late now at the tail end of the session to amend the bill to this effect, because any sort of amendment at this period would kill the bill. He insisted that the racing directors and officers were men of high repute in their communities, men who would not let down the bars to bookmaking and whose word on any proposition was worth millions of dollars. "Refuse to pass this bill," said Senator Grady, "and you will find that it not only puts horse racing out of business and will send to England all of our fine horses and kill the great sport in our land, but that you will put every grocer, every lawyer and every other man and woman in this state in a position exactly similar to the race track officials. Yon can prosecute a lawyer for criminal responsibility if you find somebody playing cards for money in his office, no matter how ignorant the lawyer may be of the fact, and you can also prosecute every other man in whose ollice or home any kind of a gambling game goes on." Senator Wainwright said he was willing to vote for a hill that the directors should not be held liable unless they had knowledge, and Senator Grady said it was too late to do this now. Senator Wainwright said such an amendment should be inserted in the law and that the governor could be asked for an emergency message, and if he refused the Legislature could remain in session a few days longer than intended in order to permit the bill to be reprinted three days. "I intend to offer such an amendment," concluded Senator Wainwright. "Oh, dont hand us such a sugar coated amendment at this late hour." laughed Senator Grady. "It seems plain," said Senator Gittins, "that the opponents of this bill are willing to descend to a trick to defeat this bill." "This amendment was prepared by me without consultation with any one," insisted Senator Wainwright. "This is the easiest thing," said Senator Hinman, "that lias yet come over.. All you have to do is to get dummy directors of a race track in Europe and you never can show knowledge of gambling on the track. But I am going to vote for the amendment, nevertheless, because it would mean the killing of the bill." Senator Wainwrights amendment was defeated, ayes, 4; noes, 42. Senator McClelland of Manhattan severely criti cized the clergymen who were, opposing the bill. "It would he a nice thing if some one injected a gambling game into a Methodist conference," said Senator McClelland, "and then had the whole conference arrested, wouldnt it? I dont say such a thing would happen, but it Is one of the absurd possibilities under the law at present." Senator McClelland said he took a back seat from no one so far as his religious principles were concerned, that his father was a minister and that 5,000 of bis fathers money had gone to foreign missions. "But this bill Is a fair and square proposition," he added, "and ought to pass." Senator OBrien said he came from a district which contained many race tracks, and that he was in a position to intelligently judge the merits of the Gittins bill, and would support it. The New York Telegraph, commenting editorially upon the situation at Albany, says: "Governor Dix, fortunately, may be relied upon to do- the fair thing, the honest thing, when the Gittins hill passes the lower brancli of the Legislature. The Dixes, from father to son down through American history, have constituted a family characterized by a rigid spinal column. They cannot be deflected from the right by the use of influence. Those whose chief joy and comfort in life is found in regulating the minds, manners and morals of others find small comfort in Governor Dix. A great public wrong was perpetrated two years ago. It was the violation of the state constitution and of the constitution of the United States, in the passage of a bill which made one man criminally responsible for the action of another. The deed of the other he might have made every effort in his power to prevent; just the same he was to he punished, not with a fine, hut with imprisonment. Never since the days of the Blue laws was such an objectionable, irrational and unjust statute enacted. It was framed in ignorance and bigotry and became a law largely through potitical malice. The artful proponents of this law used the cloak of morality and the cant of the hypocrite to delude the Legislature and the people of New York. Fortunately a more liberal-minded Legislature and an upright administration have been established in this state. It was understood that Governor Dix informed those interested in racing that if any lobby nppeared in behalf of the bills designed to regulate the statutory wroug, if any suspicion of money in the influencing of votes arose, he would not give the movement his indorsement. Give it a fair trial, lay the Case before the Legislature and the people, and if the majority favor such amendment I will approve it. were in effect the suggestions he made.. Those in favor of the bill have used argument only, and that but slightly. It was not necessary. The wrong, illegality and unconstitutionality of the former racing bills, designed not to destroy gambling, but to crush a great sport and a vast industry, were so apparent that it was a matter of duty to correct the injustice. We may hope within a week to have it impossible in New York for one man to be convicted and sentenced and stigmatized as a criminal for the doings of another over whom he has no control, whose identity is unknown to him and of whom he has never heard of." After the Assembly voted adversely on the Gittins bills Friday, August Belmont, chairman of the Jockey Club, was quoted in an interview as follows: "In my opinion this means that there will be no revival of racing in New York this year. It will aiso mean, I think, that owners like myself will be likely to send their horses away." Mr. Belmont said that he was not prepared to say that the enactment of the Gittins legislation would have put racing in this state on a favorable footing again. "So much damage lias been done the sport," lie said, "that the question of what it would take to revive it successfully is one that cannot be answered offhand." i Canon Chase said following the passage of the bill in the Senate that he believed if Governor Dix signed the hill it would be a "calamity to the people." "The gamblers," he said, "will naturally be on their good behavior for the rest of the year, but the Gittins law will make a conviction for gambling extremely difficult."
