THE LAW AN ASS.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 662, 12 November 1909, Page 7

THE LAW AN ASS.

NEW TOBK ANTI-BE'ITINQ AM , EVADED. (By Teletr»ph.-Pre«e Aesooiation.-Oopjulght.) ' New York, November Id, ' The Nα* York State Court of Appeals has upheld tho bookmakers' contention that oral ' betting in not prohibited on race-tracks. RECKONING WITHOUT THE COURTS. ' The of tho Anti-Betting Law through the New York State Legislature was one 6f the deeds of Governor Hughes. But, as is of ton tho caso in America, a way has boon.. found roilnd the law. Writes tho New York correspondent of "The Times":— . "It has often been said that this is a conntry not so mnch of law as oi the interpretation ot the Jaw. When the Agnow-Hart AntiOcambbiig Law was passed last year it was thought that bookmakers were doomed to extinction in New York Btatc. But those who prophesied thus were counting without tho Courts, which havo now decided that the law prohibits only tho registration of bots. "The racing season was opened on May 13 in Belmont Pork under these new conditions. Wagers wore made orally without tho display of money, and settlements were mode under cover of brown-paper envelopes. Whether the I bookmakers' memories were ei)ual to tho occasi6lj, and whether their clients were equal to their word is not recorded,, In any case, 10,000 people appear to havo spent a very enjoyable day, and the pohco discovered no breach of tho law."