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MAY NOT PROHIBIT FIRST MEETINGS. Spring Fixtures Will Likely Not Be Interfered with by Canadian Government. Dispatches from Ottawa and Toronto, Out., indicating immediate drastic action on the part of the Canadian authorities on the subject of racing, which might Ik expected to either prohibit betting on the Canadian tracks or suppress the sport entirely dining the duration of the war. came as ■ great sur prise to the majority of patrons of the turf. Generally the hope was expressed that the situation might not be so black for racing as painted. Late Canadian advices state that while it is generally understood that the government has about decided to introduce a bill in parliament prohibiting race meet -ings until after the war. details of the proposal have not as yet been worked out. The spring meetings, for which arrangements have been made, will not be interfered with, but whether or not the legislation will interfere with the fixtures arranged for the early midsummer is not known. When the Hon. J. C. Doherty was ques-tioned in regard to the matter he said. "The whole thing is in the melting pot. Legislation may or may not be introduced. At any rate, the details, such as when the law will come into effect, are not settled yet." It seems quite possible that, instead of introducing a bill in parliament, the governient may deal with the matter by order-in-cuum-il, under the provisions of the war-measure act. The expectation now is that the spring meetings at all recognized tracks will be conducted as originally scheduled. Devonshire, the Windsor track which is the only one of the big Canadian tracks to have run a full seven-day meeting this spring, has decided to take no chances on dates for its second meeting, and announced that it would race on June 9 to 1«, instead of June 30 to July 7. as originally contemplated. As Devonshire is outside the pale of the Canadian Racing Associations, it asks questions of no one in arranging its date schedule. The Wind -sor Jockey Club and Kenilworth Park, the other Windsor tracks, are both in the Canadian Racing Associations. The Canadian Racing Associations will have a meeting in Toronto tomorrow.
