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i- LIVELY PROCEEDINGS IN MARYLAND LEGISLATURE OVER RACING f. The vote by which the lower house of the Maryland .Legislature recommitted the Hall anti-betting bill to the judiciary committee Wednesday night was TO to 2-4. Under the rules of the house, the committee may hold the hill lifteen days before reporting it back, if it so desires. The legislature will have adjourned before such a time limit expires. The report of the proceedings in the House of Delegates on the subject as furnished to the Baltimore Sun by its legislative correspondent is interesting and is as follows: "After its appearance had been delayed by various legislative proceedings since lnsf Friday night when it was scheduled for action, the Hall Anti-Bacetrack Gambling bill came before the House tonight and immediately stirred up a storm as s. allien and violent as that of a hot summer afternoon. It all resulted in the bill, witli amendments proposed by the author and by Mr. Hoffman, of Washington county, being re-committed to the Judiciary Committee, but not before some speeches of tabasco flavor had been delivered and expressions seldom used in debate had been hurled back and forth across the lloor. .Mr. Hall presented three amendments to his bill, designed, as he stated, to put teeth in it. The lirst provides more severe punishment for violation or the auti-gambling provisions of the measure. Instead oT a line of sf,M, as hi the bill, the amendment makes punishment for the first olTense imprisonment for six mouths in the House of Correction and a year for she second and succeeding offenses. The second swnemlmcnl would make it unlawful for any owner or ovi-ners of any track to permit the use of telegraph or telephone wires or paraphernalia for the purpose of transmitting to the outside the results of any race run or conducted on any track in this state. The third amendment, would make it unlawful for any newspaper or publisher or managing editor to publish or permit to be published in any daily newspaper, magazine or periodical in this state the result of any horse race conducted in the state rr elsewhere. Violation is to be a misdemeanor. Mr. Cumniings asked Mr. Hall a question and the latter hotly declared that he stood on his own two reel. 1 dont shift rrom side to side, hi continued and asserted that .Mr. Cutnmings was the, champion side-stepper of the Legislature. I have heard, said Mr. Hall, that one of the men who is named as a member of the proposed racing commission. referring evidently to Mr. Cowan, owes his position to the Speaker." "Speaker Trippe. rising "May I ask what you moan"; "Mr. Hall I understand that he owes his position in the City Hall to the Speaker, and he was the Speakers clerk here at the last session of the Legislature. "A point of order was raised against Mr. Hall for these statements. 1 do not wish, said Speaker Trippe. Mo decide on a point in a matter in which I am mentioned but I think the good sense of the gentleman should dictate the bounds of parliamentary order. "A spirited colloquy ensued between .Mr. Hall and Chairman Hoffman, of the Judiciary Committee, as to whether Mr. Hall had appeared before the committee to urge a report on his bill. Mr. Hall an. I Mr. McDonougli then engaged in a warm exchange of words as to what had occurred before the commit tee. "Mr. Mcintosh and Air. Wilkinson, of Baltimore city, thought the bill with the amendments should be sent back to the Judiciary Committee and Mr. Cuinmiugs took occasion to defend himself from the accusation of being a side-stepper. Personal it ies began to fly again, Mr. Cuminiiigs declared that "Mr. Hall find side-stepped the wishes of the people of Baltimore who had sent him to the Legislature who had created hi In."" "If "there ever was a faker or a side-stepper." said "Ml4. Cummiugs. it is the gentleman from Baltimore city. Mr. Hall. "And so the pleasantries id" the evening continued. "Mr. Honman warmly defended the action or the Judiciarv Committee, while Mr. Jones, or Wicomico, deprecated the entire proceedings and urged that a vote be taken and the quest ion settled at once on its merit. The question of race track gambling has been discussed in the State a great deal during the past two years. he said, and Miow is the time to settle It. During the past few days I have been approached by several persons on each side or the question and I for one am weary of it. I will not permit myself nor my committee to be slandered and villilied by the gV-ntleiuan from Baltimore city .Mr. Hall, said Mr. Hoffman. I.n-til the day I brought the bill out he never asked that anything be done. It is no use now for him to go into a spasm of virtue. I am not subject to his order nor to the order of his backers. "Mr. Hoffman, of Washington county, chairman of the Judiciary Committee, offered as an amendment an entirely new hill. This permits racing in the state during ! days in the year, the time to he divided among the Havre do Grace, Laurel and Iifn lico tracks. Each track is to pay the state $:.mi0 a day. making a total of ?270,0M to be derived by the state from the entire racing period. County fairs are to be exempt from the provisions of the bill. The pari-mutuel system of betting is to lie used exclusively and the racing is to be conducted under the control of a state racing commission, composed of Marion Humphrey, of Wicomico, E. II. Webster of Harford and David Cowan of Baltimore city. "When Mr. Hoffman offered his amendment he moved that the bill with the amendments be recommitted to the Judiciary Committee. This was opposed bitterly by Mr. Hall. This bill. he te-clared, has been in committee since February ! and I was compelled to drag it out. Gamblers and politicians, good, bad and indecent, have opposed it; the high-toned gambling gentry from Baltimore county have held it back because they claimed they wished to be heard. The common gambling element of the state attempted to do away with the force of the measure by amendment. They are attempting to incorporate a provision that puts the state in ie gambling business. Mr. Hall said lie did not accu-o lifs genial friend from Washington county of being in league with gamblers, but the chairman of the Judiciary Committee tried to bind me to a two weeks postponement. "Mr. Hoffman Your statement, is correct. "ifr. Hall And yet if yon get this bill back in committee you can hold it lifteen days while there remain only twelve days of the session. "Mr. Hoffman Then you accuse me of wanting to do something dishonorable? "Mr. Hall urged immediate consideration of the bill, declaring that no matter what the chairman ot the Judiciary Committee might wish to do. he would not be able to bring the measure out again without the consent of the other members of the committee. "A roll call was then had on the question of referring the hill with ;the amendments back to the Judiciary Committee and the motion to refer was adopted by a vote of 7 ip favor of referring to 21 against. Thus ended the-first chapter of fhe race track light.- "The vole by which the Hall bill, with the amend incuts, including the Hoffman bill, was recommitted, was as follows: "Yeas 70 Messrs. Speaker. Wilkinson of St. Marys. Turner, Duvall. Stewart, Covington. Dob-son." Harrison, Bosley, Gatcli. Mclnto-di, Jr.. Nagle, Schlee, Watts, Andrews, Letller. Van Horn, Addison, Claggett, Blanford. Jr., Thomas, llagan. Price. Veasev. Belt. Brust. Bussard. Nelson. Ilojikins or Harford. Kelley. Bouse. McQtiade. Newman. Pal-maisano, Mahool, Iink. Gordon, Wilkinson .of Baltimore citv, Dawkins, Frick, McDonougli. Busch, ITastoii. Griebel Joyce, Beviol. Corbett, Hoffman, Danzer, Stevenson, Yourtee. Cumniings. Snowden, Waters. White, Gtinnett. Fisher, Herpich. Evans, Bruce Jr., Beinhart. Baker, George, Sayers, Cr:ip-ster, Howard. Disaroou. Savage, Sharlzer and Ilar- W"Xays 21 Jones of St. Marys. Shallcross, At well". .Tov, Posev. Dement. Ford. Jackson. Ward, Holland. Davis. Mearns, Dudley. Wachter, McNabb. .Mitchell. Covey. Xuttle, Hall, Linthicuni, Wooden, Freeney and .lones of Worcester." Baltimore. Mil.. March 27. With the Hall and Williams bills and proposed amendments held over until next week, the opinion at Annapolis today was that rival bills are being played one against the other with the idea of defeating all race track legislation at this session of the general assembly. The Hall and Williams bills, which are identical, represent the wishes of the Pimlico people, despite the provisions or a tax of .sn.OOO per day which each contains. Pimlico stockholders say they are not in racing for money and are willing to assume the tax. , Bev. John Boach Stratton. who is leading the fight against racing, todav circulated at Annapolis a letter from Canon William Sheafe Chase or .Sew York, which contradicts the statement or Thomas Clyde before the Senate Judiciarv Committee last week that laws like the Hughes measure in New York encourage handbook betting.
