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Show TSS1 President of New California Jockey Club Addresses Senate Committee. ooooooooooo o O WALKER-OTIS BILL O I O TURNED DOWN. O j O O O Sacramento, Cal., Jan. 28. 0 O The senate public morals com- O I O mlttee decided In executive O 6 session late tonight to report O O back to Lhe senate without O O amendment tomorrow, the O O Walker-Otis anil race track O ! O bill, with the recommendation O I O that it do not pass. O 0 o ooooooooooo Sacramento, California, Jan. lis. Thomas H. Williams, president of tho New California Jockey clui, which operates the race track at Emeryville, Em-eryville, in addressing the. committeo cn public morals tonight, startled the assembled legislators and the auditors audi-tors who crowded the galleries of the senate chamber, by declaring that in the last 28 years more crimes had been committed In the United States and Canada by ministers of the gospel gos-pel than by any other class. As ho spoke he waved a paper-bound book. "I havo the record here," he cried. "There are J.OOO of them, and thoy have committed crimes or every description, des-cription, including murder and train robbery." Prior to making the foregoing1 declaration. de-claration. Williams' vanger had been aroused by several questions put by ' advocates of the bill in dispute, who aslccd him what he had to say in regard re-gard to the "criminal, influences of the race track." Among the questioners was Arthur Letts, a Los Angeles merchant and president of the Antl-raco Track Gambling league of southern California. Cali-fornia. "Would you be in this business if it were not for the profits in it?" askeJ Letts. "That's none of your business," replied re-plied Williams. Senator Leavltt, a member of tho committee, Interrupted proceedings at this point with a motion to adjourn, but Chairman Weed gave Senator Hartman tho floor. "I am for racing," said Hartman. "If this is to be my political death knell, toll your hells; 1 don't want to come here any more." The speech of Williams occupied half an hour. In part he said; "Without gambling racing wilt cease. It won't work without the element ele-ment of chance any more than the real estate or any othor business. It Is the love of gaming that supports every business. If you curb that you ruin the trade of tho world. If you stop the race track you will have prohibition pro-hibition the next trip, and the Sunday rost law the next trip, and so on ad lib. "Arc we going to say that England, Russia, Germany, France and other great nations know nothing? They have decided that racing was one of the greatest features of their national na-tional life I moan the improvement of the breed of thoroughbreds. "Close the race tracks In California and tomorrow you will Increase the number of pool rooms in the stato. This has been the case in Chicago, New York and other cities where gambling has been prohibited. You can't control gambling In Canada and you can't stop the telegraph wires.' Senator Leavitt interrupted to ask regarding the operation of the Hughe law in Now York. Williams handed Leavltt tho affidavit of a citizen ct New York to the effect that there were over 400 hand books there and many more bucket ehops than ever" before. Williams then continued: "I wish to make an announcement here in public about a gentleman who has declared lie Is against racing and race track gambling. Kudolpli Spreckels has stated that he favors restricted gambling. If he thinks he can got along without gambling. I am willing to give him one of my tracks. 1 defy him to restrict gambling any more than I have done and am doing." |