Opposition To Racing Bill., Daily Racing Form, 1912-04-12

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OPPOSITION TO KACING BILL Tl e Baltimore Sun publishes the following special irom its correspondent at Annapolis the state capital Although Governor Goldsborough declines to dis ¬ cuss the Anno Arundcl County Racing Commission bill which is before him for final action his friends believe he will veto the measure because of the fact that under Its provisions it is asserted that there can be eight months of continuous racing at the Laurel track trackSince Since the passage of the bill the governor has received scores of letters protesting against it from people of Anne Arundel County as well as the en ¬ tire state None of its advocates has asked the governor to approve it Men interested in racing fear that almost continuous racing at Laurel would sound the death knell of the sport in Maryland and for that reason they are anxious to see the bill vetoed vetoedA A Baltimore devotee of racing who has studied its provisions said that he could see nothing except an allowance for almost continuous racing for eight months Ho analyzed the bill in this way In Section 1 the right is given to hold one or more meetings for running races In the same sec ¬ tion the only restrictions as to the months in which races shall be held are that no meetings shall be Riven in December January February and March In Section 3 it is provided that no meeting shall lie given for more than thirty days Nowhere in the bill is there any provision limiting the total number of days when races may be held in the county Irom the above sections it appears that certainly one or more meetings of thirty days can be given AK there are eight mouths in which racing Is ppr in i Hod It seems clear that there is by the pro ¬ visions of tho bill a possibility of eight months racing in Anno Arundcl County on the Laurel track teectiou 3 provides that the commission may refuse or revoke any license1 and that upon such refusal or revocation it must state its reasons in writing in the minute book of the commission and keep It open to Inspection An appeal from the action of the commission on refusal or revocation only js Itermllted in this language Said finding shall be subject to the review of the court of competent jurisdiction This language is indefinite certainly and leaves it a matter of surmise as t which court Is tho court of competent jurisdiction There is little doubt that a court would refuse to consider the question of matters pertaining to horse racing as a judicial act It has Iwen litld on many occasions ny the Maryland Court of Appeals and other appel ¬ late tribunals that the Legislature cannot impose an citra jndlcial duty upon a court In Section 4 Jt is provided than an injunction may be granted against any iwrson conducting races except under the provisions of the act but there is no power granted to anyone to apply Tor this injunction ex ¬ cept the Racing Commission It would appear therefore that the citizens and taxpayers have no method by which unlawful racing could be checked and that the whole matter would be entirely in the bauds of the commission


Persistent Link: https://drf.uky.edu/catalog/1910s/drf1912041201/drf1912041201_2_3
Local Identifier: drf1912041201_2_3
Library of Congress Record: https://lccn.loc.gov/unk82075800