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PECULIARITIES OF BETTING IN GERMANY A good racing season is anticipated In Germany but the betting question still remains an open one Tho Government tax on the totalizator Is a heavy one over IS per cent and the liookmaker Is dealt with in a summary manner His money is con ¬ fiscated and he is punished as a rogue and vaga ¬ bond No competition is permitted with the Gov ¬ ernment and to check any clandestine letting race societies are authorized to appoint agencies in differ ¬ ent parts of the country to receive the money of In vestors and forward it by wire for investment to tbi secretary of the race course wherever the meeting Is to be held According to police reports clandestine betting is more extensively resorted to in Germany than elsewhere There is not a race of note in Gor many France or England which does not lead to good business for the legion who know how to 1nd customers notwithstanding all the prosecutions car ¬ ried on Though it may seem Incredible it is never ¬ theless a fact that the chief of the police has come to the conclusion that the time has come to settle the question by licensing iKxikninkers who would pay a tax to the Government In exchange for recognition and the right to carry on business openly Strange to say the opposition offered to such a project comes fr6m the race societies They imagine that the ad ¬ vent or resurrection of the bookmaker would de ¬ crease their takings at the totalizator and impair their budgets They have consequently declined to entertain any of the propositions made them so that the unlicensed and Irresponsible layer is left free to continue on the old Hi is as he has his money in hand and pays when he cannot do otherwise know ¬ ing that no action can he taken takenSome Some time since arrangements were made In Ger ¬ many for the Insurance of jockeys riding on the Hat or over hurdles An agreement was made that each licensed rider should pay a certain sum annually and a further contribution for each ride In public while the different race societies promised to make up the difference between the sums paid by the jockeys and the amount of the premium required by the Assurance Company The whole affair was worked out and instituted by the Union of Breeders and Owners but it appears from explanations givon by Captain Von Krause secretary of the committee that the majority of the jockeys likely to benefit by the scheme of insurance have found parting such sweet sorrow that they have been more than lax in the payment of their premiums and have thus caused considerable inconvenience to the committee Captain Von Krause suggested that in future those who paid up their premiums punctually that Is to say the 1230 and 20 respectively with the addi ¬ tional shilling for each ride by the first of July and then the additional riding fees due on the first of October and the balance on the first of December should only be called on to pay sixpence In lien of a shilling for each occasion on which they had ridden
