Hart–Agnew Law
Encyclopedia
The Hart–Agnew Law was an anti-gambling
bill passed into law by the Legislature
of the State of New York
on June 11, 1908. It was an amalgam of bills enacted as Chapter 506 and 507 which were sponsored by right-wing
Assemblyman
Merwin K. Hart
and Republican
Senator
George B. Agnew. http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9F03E1D91F3DEE32A2575BC0A9649D946196D6CF
For more than a decade, moral activists, including the Young Men's Christian Association
, http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9B01E7D61231E233A25754C1A9649C946997D6CF had demanded New York enact legislation similar to that passed in 1898 by the state of New Jersey
which banned both gambling and horse racing
. http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?_r=1&res=9503E1DA1E3EE233A25757C2A9609C946096D6CF Newly elected Republican Governor of New York
, Charles Evans Hughes
would advocate changes to gambling laws and in January 1908 he recommended the repeal of the Percy-Gray Law of 1895 and replace it with strict new anti-gambling legislation that would provide substantial fines and a prison term
for those convicted of betting. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9B04E5DC173EE233A25751C0A9679C946997D6CF
http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=paALAAAAIBAJ&sjid=SFQDAAAAIBAJ&pg=3855,5321489&dq=hart+agnew&hl=en, horse racing did continue under the interpretation that oral betting between patrons was still legal. However, Governor Hughes ensured the law was strictly enforced http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9A04E2DA1631E233A25750C1A9609C946997D6CF and on June 15, 1908 the New York Times reported that 150 police officers plus more than fifty in plain clothes arrived at Gravesend Race Track
on Coney Island
to uphold the new law. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9F03E0DD153EE233A25755C1A9609C946997D6CF Their instructions were to arrest men who congregated in groups of more than three plus arrest anyone who was seen writing anything on a newspaper, racing program or even a piece of plain paper that might be construed as betting.
Despite opposition from prominent owners such as August Belmont, Jr.
and Harry Payne Whitney
, right-wing legislators were not happy that betting was still going on at racetracks and they had further restrictive legislation passed by the New York Legislature in 1910 http://therail.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/05/24/the-first-american-triple-crown-series/?pagemode=print that made it possible for racetrack owners and members of its Board of Directors
to be fined and imprisoned if anyone was found betting, even privately, anywhere on their premises. After a 1911 amendment to the law to limit the liability of owners and directors was defeated, http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9406E2D61431E233A25757C1A9619C946096D6CF every racetrack in New York State shut down. The economic ramifications were substantial and especially hard hit was the town of Saratoga Springs, New York
where entrepreneurs had made substantial investments in a variety of businesses to serve the racing industry and its patrons. Numerous Saratoga businesses went bankrupt, hotels suffered a sharp decline in guests, and real estate values collapsed. Owners, whose horses of racing age had nowhere to go, began shipping them and their trainers to England and France. Many ended their racing careers there, and a number remained to become an important part of the European horse breeding
industry. Thoroughbred Times reported that more than American 1,500 horses were sent overseas between 1908 and 1913 and that of them, at least twenty-four were either past, present, or future Champions. http://www.thoroughbredtimes.com/weekly-feature-articles/2000/February/14/Racing-Through-the-Century-1911-1920.aspx
Due to the turmoil surrounding the industry following the close of the New Jersey racetracks in 1898, a number of top American jockeys such as Guy Garner, Tod Sloan
, Danny Maher
, Skeets Martin
, Winfield O'Connor, Frank O'Neill, John Reiff, Lester Reiff
, and Nash Turner had already gone to Europe to make a living. With the closure of the New York tracks, more top jockeys left the country. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9902E0DA123AE633A25757C1A9679C946396D6CF By 1917 the large majority of jockeys and trainers returned to the United States but several never did.
Racing returned to New York after a New York court ruled that oral betting was legal as the Hart-Agnew law only covered bookmaker
s. http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9800E5DE153FE633A25756C2A9609C946296D6CF http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=22&dat=19130330&id=j14xAAAAIBAJ&sjid=TSoDAAAAIBAJ&pg=4086,5686242 Owners were tentative at first, but the economic impact on New York State was such that legislators left the industry alone. The Brighton Beach Race Course
, Gravesend Race Track
, and the Sheepshead Bay Race Track
were never able to reopen.
Gambling
Gambling is the wagering of money or something of material value on an event with an uncertain outcome with the primary intent of winning additional money and/or material goods...
bill passed into law by the Legislature
New York Legislature
The New York State Legislature is the term often used to refer to the two houses that act as the state legislature of the U.S. state of New York. The New York Constitution does not designate an official term for the two houses together...
of the State of New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
on June 11, 1908. It was an amalgam of bills enacted as Chapter 506 and 507 which were sponsored by right-wing
Old Right (United States)
The Old Right was a conservative faction in the United States that opposed both New Deal domestic programs and U.S. entry into World War II. Many members of this faction were associated with the Republicans of the interwar years led by Robert Taft, but some were Democrats...
Assemblyman
New York State Assembly
The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature. The Assembly is composed of 150 members representing an equal number of districts, with each district having an average population of 128,652...
Merwin K. Hart
Merwin K. Hart
Merwin Kimball Hart was an American political figure.Born in Utica, New York, Hart attended Harvard in 1900, graduating in 1904 in the same class as Franklin D. Roosevelt. He was elected to the New York State Assembly in the election of 1906, and was involved with the Progressive Movement...
and Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
Senator
New York State Senate
The New York State Senate is one of two houses in the New York State Legislature and has members each elected to two-year terms. There are no limits on the number of terms one may serve...
George B. Agnew. http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9F03E1D91F3DEE32A2575BC0A9649D946196D6CF
For more than a decade, moral activists, including the Young Men's Christian Association
YMCA
The Young Men's Christian Association is a worldwide organization of more than 45 million members from 125 national federations affiliated through the World Alliance of YMCAs...
, http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9B01E7D61231E233A25754C1A9649C946997D6CF had demanded New York enact legislation similar to that passed in 1898 by the state of New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
which banned both gambling and horse racing
Horse racing
Horse racing is an equestrian sport that has a long history. Archaeological records indicate that horse racing occurred in ancient Babylon, Syria, and Egypt. Both chariot and mounted horse racing were events in the ancient Greek Olympics by 648 BC...
. http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?_r=1&res=9503E1DA1E3EE233A25757C2A9609C946096D6CF Newly elected Republican Governor of New York
Governor of New York
The Governor of the State of New York is the chief executive of the State of New York. The governor is the head of the executive branch of New York's state government and the commander-in-chief of the state's military and naval forces. The officeholder is afforded the courtesy title of His/Her...
, Charles Evans Hughes
Charles Evans Hughes
Charles Evans Hughes, Sr. was an American statesman, lawyer and Republican politician from New York. He served as the 36th Governor of New York , Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States , United States Secretary of State , a judge on the Court of International Justice , and...
would advocate changes to gambling laws and in January 1908 he recommended the repeal of the Percy-Gray Law of 1895 and replace it with strict new anti-gambling legislation that would provide substantial fines and a prison term
Incarceration
Incarceration is the detention of a person in prison, typically as punishment for a crime .People are most commonly incarcerated upon suspicion or conviction of committing a crime, and different jurisdictions have differing laws governing the function of incarceration within a larger system of...
for those convicted of betting. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9B04E5DC173EE233A25751C0A9679C946997D6CF
Effect on horse racing
Although the Hart-Agnew law was regularly referred to as the anti-racing law,http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=paALAAAAIBAJ&sjid=SFQDAAAAIBAJ&pg=3855,5321489&dq=hart+agnew&hl=en, horse racing did continue under the interpretation that oral betting between patrons was still legal. However, Governor Hughes ensured the law was strictly enforced http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9A04E2DA1631E233A25750C1A9609C946997D6CF and on June 15, 1908 the New York Times reported that 150 police officers plus more than fifty in plain clothes arrived at Gravesend Race Track
Gravesend Race Track
Gravesend Race Track at Gravesend on Coney Island, New York was a Thoroughbred horse racing facility built by the Brooklyn Jockey Club as a result of the backing of the wealthy racing stable owners, the Dwyer Brothers. Philip J...
on Coney Island
Coney Island
Coney Island is a peninsula and beach on the Atlantic Ocean in southern Brooklyn, New York, United States. The site was formerly an outer barrier island, but became partially connected to the mainland by landfill....
to uphold the new law. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9F03E0DD153EE233A25755C1A9609C946997D6CF Their instructions were to arrest men who congregated in groups of more than three plus arrest anyone who was seen writing anything on a newspaper, racing program or even a piece of plain paper that might be construed as betting.
Despite opposition from prominent owners such as August Belmont, Jr.
August Belmont, Jr.
August Belmont, Jr. was an American financier, the builder of New York's Belmont Park racetrack, and a major owner/breeder of thoroughbred racehorses.-Early life:...
and Harry Payne Whitney
Harry Payne Whitney
Harry Payne Whitney was an American businessman, thoroughbred horsebreeder, and member of the prominent Whitney family.- Early years :...
, right-wing legislators were not happy that betting was still going on at racetracks and they had further restrictive legislation passed by the New York Legislature in 1910 http://therail.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/05/24/the-first-american-triple-crown-series/?pagemode=print that made it possible for racetrack owners and members of its Board of Directors
Board of directors
A board of directors is a body of elected or appointed members who jointly oversee the activities of a company or organization. Other names include board of governors, board of managers, board of regents, board of trustees, and board of visitors...
to be fined and imprisoned if anyone was found betting, even privately, anywhere on their premises. After a 1911 amendment to the law to limit the liability of owners and directors was defeated, http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9406E2D61431E233A25757C1A9619C946096D6CF every racetrack in New York State shut down. The economic ramifications were substantial and especially hard hit was the town of Saratoga Springs, New York
Saratoga Springs, New York
Saratoga Springs, also known as simply Saratoga, is a city in Saratoga County, New York, United States. The population was 26,586 at the 2010 census. The name reflects the presence of mineral springs in the area. While the word "Saratoga" is known to be a corruption of a Native American name, ...
where entrepreneurs had made substantial investments in a variety of businesses to serve the racing industry and its patrons. Numerous Saratoga businesses went bankrupt, hotels suffered a sharp decline in guests, and real estate values collapsed. Owners, whose horses of racing age had nowhere to go, began shipping them and their trainers to England and France. Many ended their racing careers there, and a number remained to become an important part of the European horse breeding
Horse breeding
Horse breeding is reproduction in horses, and particularly the human-directed process of selective breeding of animals, particularly purebred horses of a given breed. Planned matings can be used to produce specifically desired characteristics in domesticated horses...
industry. Thoroughbred Times reported that more than American 1,500 horses were sent overseas between 1908 and 1913 and that of them, at least twenty-four were either past, present, or future Champions. http://www.thoroughbredtimes.com/weekly-feature-articles/2000/February/14/Racing-Through-the-Century-1911-1920.aspx
Due to the turmoil surrounding the industry following the close of the New Jersey racetracks in 1898, a number of top American jockeys such as Guy Garner, Tod Sloan
Tod Sloan (jockey)
James Forman "Tod" Sloan was an American thoroughbred horse racing jockey. He was elected to the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 1955.-Early life and U.S. racing career:...
, Danny Maher
Daniel A. Maher
Daniel Aloysius Maher was an American Hall of Fame jockey who also became a Champion jockey in Great Britain.- U.S. Riding Career :...
, Skeets Martin
Skeets Martin
John Henry Martin , commonly referred to as "Skeets" Martin, was an American jockey who achieved many racing wins in the United States and the United Kingdom during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. His most notable race wins were the 1902 Epsom Derby on Ard Patrick and the 1903...
, Winfield O'Connor, Frank O'Neill, John Reiff, Lester Reiff
Lester Reiff
Lester Berchart Reiff was an American jockey who achieved racing acclaim in the United Kingdom in the first decade of the twentieth century...
, and Nash Turner had already gone to Europe to make a living. With the closure of the New York tracks, more top jockeys left the country. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9902E0DA123AE633A25757C1A9679C946396D6CF By 1917 the large majority of jockeys and trainers returned to the United States but several never did.
Racing returned to New York after a New York court ruled that oral betting was legal as the Hart-Agnew law only covered bookmaker
Bookmaker
A bookmaker, or bookie, is an organization or a person that takes bets on sporting and other events at agreed upon odds.- Range of events :...
s. http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9800E5DE153FE633A25756C2A9609C946296D6CF http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=22&dat=19130330&id=j14xAAAAIBAJ&sjid=TSoDAAAAIBAJ&pg=4086,5686242 Owners were tentative at first, but the economic impact on New York State was such that legislators left the industry alone. The Brighton Beach Race Course
Brighton Beach Race Course
The Brighton Beach Race Course was an American Thoroughbred horse racing facility opened at Brighton Beach, Coney Island, New York on June 28, 1879 by the Brighton Beach Racing Association. Headed by real estate developer William A. Engeman, who owned the Brighton Beach Hotel, the one-mile race...
, Gravesend Race Track
Gravesend Race Track
Gravesend Race Track at Gravesend on Coney Island, New York was a Thoroughbred horse racing facility built by the Brooklyn Jockey Club as a result of the backing of the wealthy racing stable owners, the Dwyer Brothers. Philip J...
, and the Sheepshead Bay Race Track
Sheepshead Bay Race Track
Sheepshead Bay Race Track was an American Thoroughbred horse racing facility built on the site of the Coney Island Jockey Club at Sheepshead Bay, New York...
were never able to reopen.