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BARS RECORDING OF BETS GITTINS BILLS WILL NOT PERMIT RETURN TO NEW YORK CONDITIONS OF 1907. i Vital Factor in Bookmaking to Remain a Felony if Measures Now Under Consideration in Legislature at Albany Are Enacted Into Law. i New York, taw If. — Recording bets, m sheet writing, which is the vital factor in liookiuaking. Lwill remain a felony even if the Gittins measures Iimw before tlie Legislature at Albany become laws. JW that, reason, it is pointed out by professional turf i Spccnlattrs, they will have little leeway. When the Hart-Agncw law went into effect the bookmakers lmsiness received ■ knock-out blow because it became illegal to keep a record of lietting transactions except in ones own mind. It was generally admitted that memory betting was limited in volume and that wholesale speculation with the public was physically and meutally impossible. From the moment Governor Hughes signed the Hart-Agnew measure the betting ring disappeared. Under the Percy-Gray law 868 bookmakers operated daily, handling • ash and ri -cording all wagers in elaborate fashion. Hut when the old law was erased from the statute Itooks a revolution took place. The bookmakers, or layers, as they were called then, dwindled in number te less than thirty. The daily crowds of 20,000 and 40,000 on Saturdays and holidays fell off to 2,666 and r ,000 respectively. No cash betting was permitted, speculation being confined to the oral credit system, which from the layers point of view was anything but satisfactory. The increased fee for admission, coupled with reduced stakes and purses, however, enabled the various racing associations to nearly break even financially and encouraged them lo keep the sport alive purely out of sentiment. i Those couditons prevailed when the Agnew-Perkins — measures wc re passed last year. P Then came the closing of the gates because the raring directors did not care to be held criminally liable for betting that might take place on the tracks without their knowledge or consent. The tiookmak-iug with or without writing law also made it dangerous for two friends to wager in private on the result of a race. In describing the future of racing if the Gittins measures are passed a memlter of the Legislature said yesterday: •It is unfair to say that the Gittins bills mean open gambling on a big scale and that the former conditions that prevailed under the Percy-Gray law will come back. The Gittins bills simply relieve the directed of criminal liability. It is unfair to hold them responsible for betting of which they know nothing and cannot prevent. They should be allowed to conduct their race meetings without fear of ar-nst. inasmuch as racing is legalized and protected by the State Racing Commission appointed by the Governor. There is no written law against betting, i ami there is a wide difference between betting and klHiokmaking. The Gittins bills define the term 1km. k wnaking Without writing in such a way that individuals can bet privately. That is all. There ta DO ..attempt to wipe out the law making the recording ■ f wagers a felony, which is the most important feature of the Hughes legislation. "If the bills pass the public in general will lie unable to bet. and the crowds at the tracks will l o limited to those who can afford to be there. Enemies of racing do not speak truthfully when they assort that the proposed legislation will restore the Objectionable features of 1!HV7. The bills simply provide lelicf on a small scale and make it possible to keep the turf barely alive." The State and County fair associations bave made I clear that tiny favor the passage of the Gittins bills as much as the racing associations under the iuris.lietion of the Jockey Club. The professional layers hive displayed little enthusiasm so far. Several of them who attenth d the United Hunts races last Saturday declared that so long as they were presented from keeping writ ten memoranda of betting transactions their business never would amount to anything. Albany. N. Y.. .lune IS. — The Gittins bills, which are now on the Senate calendar, probably will come up for third reading tomorrow. The feeling aaaoenj the leaders of the Senate is that they will pass. The leaders say they reeeivo three letters favoring l hem to one in opposition. They have not been Introduced in the Assembly. The procedure will be. if they pass the Senate, to have them sent at once to the Assembly.
