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THE JEFFERSONIAN Vol. 111. No. 25 HUGHES WINS HIS FIGHT. Albany, N. Y., June 11. —After a struggle, the precise like of which no man in or about the legislature has ever seen, the famous Ag new-Hart anti-race track gambling bills are now laws of the state of New York. Governor Hughes, h vhis signature affixed to each of the bills at 4:35 p. m. today, crowned at legislative victory, the bril liancy of which equalled only by its unexpect edness, is conceded even by those who fought him in the matter to the last ditch. A few minutes before 2 p. m. the extraor dinary session of the legislature of 1908 ad journed without delay. Crawls from Sick Bed to Vote. The decisive votes, which passed the bills, were cast by Senator Otto G. Foelker, of the fourth Senate district of Brooklyn, who crawled from a sick bed and made a sixty mile railroad journey to do it, so weak and distressed in mind and body that he seemed on the verge of utter collapse, and by a new Senator, William C. Wallace, of Niagara Falls, who was elected in a special campaign preceding which the Governor himself toured the district, speaking in behalf of his elec tion, Governor Hughes, late today, recorded his appreciation of Senator Foelker’s action in the following letter: “My Dear Senator: “I desire to express my appreciation of your heroic action in coming to the Senate this morning. Your courageous performance of duty at so grave a risk deserves the high est praise and will long be pointed to as a fine illustration of fidelity and patriotic devo tion to the interests of the state. I trust that you will not suffer any ill affects and that you will soon be restored to your full health and vigor. “With assurance of my high esteem and best wishes, I am, “Faithfully yours, “CHARLES E. HUGHES.” There was no surprise in the vote of Sen ator Wallace, who from the outset had been definitely pledged to the support of the Gov ernor’s recommendation in this matter. Every other Senator, including Foelker, voted as he did, pro or contra, when the bills were before the regular session in April, and they passed by the precise constitutional majority of 26 to 25. The bills which now constitute Chapters 506 and 507 of the laws of 1908, in no way affect, so far as their face provisions go, the state racing commission in particular, or horse rac ing in general. They relate solely to the penalties for gambling, pool selling and book making which, as before, are declared by the law to be “a public nuisance.” Chapter 506 A Weekly Paper Edited by THOI and J. D. WATSON. Atlanta, Ga., June 18, 1908. amends the racing law by repealing that pro vision under which an exclusive penalty of simply recovering at civil suit the amount waged was incurred, v;hich has applied to gambling within a race track enclosure thus exempting such gambling from the penalties operative elsewhere in the state, and it also provides that this general penalty shall be “imprisonment in the county jail or peniten tiary for a period of not more than one year,” without alternative of fine. Minor Courts Given Jurisdiction. Chapter 507 amends the penal code in like manner, and in addition changes the grade of the crime from that of a felony, which any gambling was until today, to that of a mis demeanor, thus bringing the offense within the jurisdiction of the minor criminal courts. Senator Foelker expects to return tomorrow to the home of his father-in-law, at Staats burg, where for a month he has been confined to his bed, recovering from an operation for appendicitis on May 10. Francis N. Murphy, of Staatsburg, his physician, who accompanied his now famous patient from Staatsburg to the Senate chamber, said that the anxiety and nervousness of his patient undoubtedly had retarded his recovery, but admitted that he was better this afternoon than he was this morning, and expressed the belief that Sena tor Foelker had not been permanently injured by his experience.—Charlotte Observer. STEEL PRICE CUT IS FORCED ON TRUST BY OUTSIDERS. After a verbal battle that continued almost uninterruptedly all yesterday and extended well into last night the independent steel man ufacturers of the United States defeated J. P. Morgan’s billion-dollar Steel Trust and forced it to agree to a general cut in the prices of all finished steel products with the exception of steel rails. At the conclusion of the arguments former Judge Elbert H. Gary, chairman of the Board of Directors of the Steel Trust, gave out the following ■written statement “The representatives of the leading steel manufacturing companies have been in session during the day. “It is understood that the price of iron ore been, or will soon be, reduced fifty cents a ton base. “Each one of the steel manufacturers ex pressed the opinion that there should be a readjustment in the prices of their respective commodities as follows: “Billets from S2B per ton to $25 per ton, Pittsburg. “Sheet bars from $29 per ton to $27 per ton, Pittsburg. “Plates from $1.70 per 100 pounds to $1.60 per 100 pounds, Pittsburg. “Structural from $1.70 per 100 pounds to $1.60 per 100 pounds, Pittsburg. “Merchant pipe, a reduction of two pointe or $4 per ton, Pittsburg. “Wire nails from $2.05 per 100 pounds to $1.95 per 100 pounds, “Sheets and tin plates were reduced early in the year, therefore no changes were consid ered in the prices of these products. ‘ ‘ It is hoped that these changes will not nec essitate a general or radical readjustment of wages, which it is hoped to avoid.” Independents Were Greatly in Majority. About fifty men were present at the meet ing, which was held in the rooms of the Rail road Club on the twenty-first floor of the new Hudson Terminal Building at Church and Cortlandt streets. With the exception of former Judge Gary and George W. Perkins, all .these men were so-called independent manufacturers, men who arc outside the trust, but who hitherto have acted in harmony with it and have submitted meekly to whatever arrangements it has made in respect to prices and everything else af fecting the trade. The greed of the trust magnates, however, in refusing to recognize the depressed con ditions which obtained in the industrial world following the recent monetary panic, for which it is generally believed many of them were largely responsible, had brought about such stagnation in business that the independ ents in desperation determined to force a re duction in prices and tempt buyers or upset the whole understanding. Soothing Tactics Prevented a Riot. Realizing this the Trust agreed to a “con ference.” The fight yesterday was the out come. The Trust’s representatives soon found themselves beaten, and it was due solely to the soothing tactics of former Judge Gary that their defeat was not turned into an utter rout. As it wrns the ex-jurist succeeded in ef fecting a compromise and the reduced sched ule finally agreed to represented the “happy medium” between the rates the independents proposed and the present prices to which the Trust sought in vain to compel all to adhere. The meeting was opened soon after 10 a. m. yesterday. It was continued until about 10 o’clock last night. The greatest pains had been taken by the Steel Trust men who ar ranged for the meeting, to keep the time and place of it secret. All day spies from brok ers’ offices and representatives of the various Wall Street news bureaus had sought in vain for it. Business on the Stock Exchange had been practically suspended pending some defi nite news of the outcome of which by courtesy was termed a “conference.” (Continued on Page Thirteen.) Price Five Cents.