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DETAILS OF MARYLAND HEARING Baltimore Md September 20 AttorneyGeneral Poe expects to test the title of the members of the Harford County Racing Commission to their seats as a result of the recent decision of Judge Harian la granting an injunction to the Harford Agricul ¬ ture and Breeders Association restraining the sheriff of IIirford County from interfering with tho racing at the Havre do Grace track trackThe The attorneygeneral plans to institute quo war ranto proceedings that will bring all the conten ¬ tions in the case before the Court of Appeals should that body in the hearing on the appeal from Judge Harlans decision decide merely to pass upon the opinion of the lower court on the recognition bodyIn of the commission as a dc facto body In the proceedings before Judge Harlan Attorney General Poo and States Attorney Stiller argued the case for the state and the race track associa ¬ tion was represented by Messrs Stevenson A Willi ¬ ams and Thomas II Robinson RobinsonIn In tho bill of complaint tiled by the plaintiff as ¬ sociation tho passage of the llarford County racing bill by the Legislature was set forth and its pro ¬ visions outlined It was stated that the commis ¬ sion had organized under the law and the contention WHS bodyThe made that it was a duly constituted body The bill set forth that tho Harford Agriculture and Breeders Association applied on May 20 for a license to hole race meetings bought a large tract of land and expended over SSOOOO in preparing it for racing purposes In rcsiiouso lo invitations to owners over GOO horses were sent lo Havre do race for the races Privileges granted to book ¬ makers and others were valuable it was stated and brought revenues because of the length of the meet Ing Each day of the continuance of the meeting was important it was contended in enabling the association engagementsTo to meet its engagements To the Racing Commission for the privilege of conducting tho meetings tho association has paid 4470 and it lias paid to the treasurer of Har ¬ ford County 2479 as 5 in r cent of the gate re ¬ ceipts up to and including September 21 Should letting and bookmaking be prohibited it was set forth the revenues of the meeting will be re ¬ duced greatly and tho plaintiff prevented from earn ¬ ing sulHeicnt money to justify the heavy price paid for privilegeShould the privilege Should betting and Iwokmaking not be per ¬ mitted tho bill continues the association will become liable lo all bookmakers to whom the privi ¬ lege has been granted for thirty days will become liable to oilier renters of privileges and will IH un able to make engagements with owners of horses for future meetings thus rendering the property of tho association useless as a race ground groundWhile While the bill of complaint took issue only with I the contention of the state that tho members of the I Racing Commission had not qualified by taking the required oath of ollice that therefore the com ¬ mission did not exist and that all its acts were void argument at tho hearing took a wider range and went into the validity of the act whether ex ¬ traordinary powers had been delegated by tho Legis ¬ lature the self perpetual ing authority given the Racing Commission the fact that it is not made responsible to anyone the discrimination against individuals in favor of corporations and other phases of tho matter matterlit lit his argument Mr Robinson who opened for tho plaintiff the racing association contended that the members of the racing commission were not civil ollieers of tho class referred to by tho consti ¬ tution as being obliged to take an oath of otlice Ho cited a number of authorities and read from a number of court decisions in support of bis posi ¬ tion tionThe The case upon which greatest reliance was placed was that of the school commissioners of Worcester County against Comptroller now governor Golds Iwrough in which the Court of Appeals decided that school commissioners were not such ollicials as were required to take the oatli prescribed bv the Constitution ConstitutionThis This track commission is a body created by tho Legislature Mr Robinson argued and tho duties of its members arc fixed by the Legislature No individual can do any thing tho members must act as a body Assuming for the sake of argument that hey were required to take an oath and did not lo so they were de facto oilicials and whatever thov have done is legal and binding bindingHe He denied that undue legislative powers had beer vested by the Legislature In the commission and con ¬ tended that its duty was purely an administrative one oneMr Mr Williams concluding for the association made an energetic defense of the racing law and declared that in passing it the Legislature had delegated a judicious exercise of the police power Ho con ¬ tended that the law did not discriminate against in ¬ dividuals who may hold at least three running races He recalled four commissions upon which ho had served one to build tho courthouse at Belair and another the new State House Commission and said its memlM rs among them Chief Judge James AleSherry of the Court of Appeals had taken no oath of office
