Evening Republican, Volume 17, Number 242, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 10 October 1913 — Supreme Court to Decide The Porter Racing Matter. [ARTICLE]

Supreme Court to Decide The Porter Racing Matter.

Whether Governor Ralston was acting within his legal rights when he stopped racing at the Mineral Springs race track at Porter by sending the.troops there will be decided in the state supreme court, through an action to be brought by- the officials of the Mineral Springs Jockey Club. The action against the governor of Indiana is to be in the nature of a friendly suit, agreed to by the state’s chief executive and jAycalculated to settle for all thfflßrthe power of the governor to interfere in race track matters with the state troops.

Attorney A. F. Knotts, president of -the Mineral Springs Jockey Club, returned last week from Indianapolis, where he was in conference with the governor in regard to the proposed friendly suit. According to Attorney Knotts, -the governor is willing to enter into the suit to be filed against him in the supreme court of the state. The governor, however, insisted at the conference thqt Attorney Knotts reduce his proposition in writing. In the hope of bringing the matter before the supreme court at the earliest possible date, Attorney Knotts Thursday prepared iiis letter to the governor. The plan of the friendly spit is for the officials of the Mineral Springs Jockey Club to question the action of Samuel M. Ralston as an individual to send the troops to Porter. In this way the provisions of the Indiana -state law which prevents the governor of the state from being sued will be circumvented. The race track officials contend that if the court decides in their favor it will -settle for all time the question of th* right of the government of the state to send troops to any place for the purpose of stopping the holding of horse races,