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DIFFER l. DETAILS INLY ] I RACING BILLS UNDER CONSIDERATION IN MARYLAND AIM AT CONTROL OE SPORT. J J Three of Four Measures Just Introduced Provide for . Government by a State Racing Commission and for the Pari-Mutuel System. , Annapolis, Md.. March 19,— The four racing bills lust Introduced in t ii« • senate i»y President Camp- J bell. Senator Frhk. Brnntor Norria and Senator Da- • val are more or less similar In their general ] r - visions, bat differ in detoiL Three « f the fear . J provide for a state racing commlaataa. impose ■ li- j cease fee n the tracka and limit the namber of C racing days for each track. The Doral bin directs . - J that racing licenses simli be banned hy the state ■ comptroller. . The Campbell bill provide* that each association . • formed for the purpose of holding racing contests J shall he entitled to hold one or more meetings each , J rear. No meeting is to Inst for more than twelve . O J daya and not more than two each meetings are to I lie held an iiij one track. An Interval of twenty days must elapse between the two meetings held I a n one track aad :» II races in the state must be B held between April I and Jane IS and between September IS and November 39. The Campbell bill also ncsvidea for ■ paid commission of three members, not more than one of i whom is to be a breeder of thoroughbred nor not more than one mi mber is to be appointed from any one county, and at hast one member mast be a resident of Baltimore City. They are to be paid 1 ,000 a year each and are to appoint a secretary and also an auditor, each of whom is to receive not more than ,900 a year. The measure directs that all betting on the races : is to be done under the pari inutuel system. The ■ tracks are to i»- allowed a five percent, commission and the breakage on all money handled. One half of tli i - amount is to be turned over to the state and la addition the racing ssssriatlsas are to pay the state .SUM a day, plus ten per-cent. on all I paid admissions. All employes of the tracks are to be residents of Maryland except that the stewards, lodges and 1 starters may be non-residents. The bill is declared to lie an emergency measure and is to take effect upon the date of its passage. The Norria 1 ill provides for an unpaid racing , commission f 9ve members, two of ahem are to . be breeders of thoroughbreds. Thej are to appoint a secretary a! ,900 a year and all racing is to be done between April I ami November 30. The raeiag association- are to pay a license fee of £500 a day for each racing day and no permit is to be issued tor mare than thirty racing days in any one county, nor is any one track to be granted a permit for more than thirty racing days daring any one year. The Norria bill does not specify how betting js to li,- done, a- ,1 i tin- Irbk and Campbell hills. The Dnval bill simply provides that an association desiring to conduct a running race meeting shall apply to the state comptroller lor a license [ and shall pay In him the I of M lor each racing day for which anpUeaton is made. Under J il. as under the Norria bills, lair associations which hold brief meetings are to pay 323 a day fur permits to hold races where not more than three running races are held in any one day. The Ptick bill provides for a State Racing Commission, imposes a license ft I 31.999 a day for 1 each Mciag day on all tracks operating under the measure, limits to 100 the namber of racing days s ill the state and to tweuty-tive the days to any • ■lie track, provides that all races must he held between April 1 and December 1 each year, directs s 1 hat no parse for which a race is run shall 1m- less s than 00 in added money and reetrieta betting on u races to the pari-matael system. As the expenditures of the Baring Commission n are limited to ,000 a year for all purposes, the ,. passage of the hill would mean a net Increase of f 1916.sh5,000 a year in I lie states Income, provided the four one mile tracks now in existence should con ,. tinue to hold meetings after the passage of the measure. All the money thus derived is to be _ ,. tamed ver to the state to he used in improving and extending the slate roads system under the 7 •late roads commission. The bill differs in many respects from the bill I, introduced by Senator Prick some time ago. His original Mil provided for a paid commission. This " new one states that the inii-si -rs shall nerve without pay except reimbursement for their actual expenses aiid these arc not to exceed ,600 in the aggregate. Tin- Srst Trick hill did not prescribe any license tee. though it was so drawn as to contemplate " such a charge. The hill Introduced by Senator Prick exempts from lis provisions trotting meetings and races s conducted by state, county and other fair associa 1 tions holding not mote than one meeting annually -v an I for a period of not exceeding six il.-ijs tor 1 each meet in-. lor permission to hold such saeet-Siigs ; application must be made to tic State Bacing 9 Commission, which will grant a license therefor " upon the payment f a fee of 5. The bill mak. s nil meetings, at which any running " races are h. id lor any puise or stake nuisance- unless authority to hold them is granted by •v the commission, ami subjects every person eoa-neeted " therewith to a line id not loss than 00 or more t ] i.i n ,000 for each da such racing - s on. it also grants the commission power to sin " out an Injunction to prevent the holding of saj IT such unliceiis.d meeting. Payment of the ,000 license fee is made a condition precedent to the granting of any permit to |l hold a race meeting and the award ol daya aid dates made liv the i mission is to be final in all eases. Any racing association which shall be rc-fnsed a permit to hold a meeting or whose license H5 shall nave been rev. died by the commission be •- caaae of alleged failure to comply with the c i- i- inissiiius regulations, may have the decision reviewed •- by aaj court saving equity jurisdiction in in the county where the meeting is to lie or was held. 1. The clause restricting betting on the races to the M pari-matael lystem provides that the whole coin-mission l- charged bj any racing association for the ie , induct of such a system shall not exceed five per •r mmt of he gross amount of money handled, plus is breakage, which generally amounts to something i£ like an additional one percent. The commission is to have full power to prescribe ie rules, regulatu Da and conditions under which all 11 horse races shall he held and may make rules governing, ;. restricting ami regulating betting by the ie pari mutuel system. Any violation of such rule Shall be sufficient cause for the revocation of any iv flccjise the commission may have issued. •he Commission is to consist of three members. a, win* are to hold office for four years each. The ,c fir»t commission is to be appointed by the governor ,•- within tweaty days after tin hill goes into affect, iahaeqnent commissions are to be appointed d by tin governor by and with the advice and consent i- of the state senate. Kach commissioner is to ,,J execute bond in the ansa of ,000 for the faithful performance of his dntJes.
