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"REFORMER" SIMS NEW BILL Latest Effort of Tennessee Congressman to Muzzle Papers. i ♦ 1 Proposed Law Seeks to Prohibit the Sending of Reports Outside Any Racing State. ♦ Ren is i sample of leglalatiaa ptnpoacd by Repre-- i • .-1 1 i • Sims i! the Memphis District of Teliae usee aad Senator sterling of south Dakota ami in preparation to go before ? k 1 1 1 legislative bodies. The bill is more drastic than icvceal puinHng ••■a introduced liy Mr. Bim* and flfintor Kenyan of Iowa, which were Beyer seriously considered by Congress. Aa i itprrlmni of reforming ideal of legislation the bill is aria ted. Sixty -sixth Congress, Be wad Session. In the linns.- if Representatives. No. 12667. .T:imi:iry 34, 1620. Mr. Sims of TcnacMcr introduced the following bill, whlrh w.-is leferied to the i ammlllu oa later-stntc ami facclga rommrrrr aad ordered printed: "A bill to prevent the nnllif nation of state nnti- gamhiing laws by international or interstate transmission of bets .ind belting odds on horse races and oiher ton teats. •Section 1. Ife it enacted by the Seii:it" :ind lions:-Of Uepresent.it ives of the Tinted States of Ainei ■ie;i in Congress assembled. That aad person who. with intent l.i exei nte. conduct, promote, aid. abet or carry OB ii any manner whatever any pooi selling, Imok-nakiiig or gambling of any kind on any horse race or any contest of speed, power OT endurance of man or boast, or of any inffhaaJral eoatriTaaee, BhaH deposit in the Unites States mail or cause to be deposited therein, or shall deposit for traasatfaialon or send, transmit or deliver by any person, telegraph or telephone company, or by any m-ans whatever, any advertisement, announcement, dispatch or message from one state or ti rritory into aaother -i.-te or territory, or from or lato the District of Columbia, or from the I uited States sc any place subject to the jurisdiction thereof to any foreign country, or who shall knowingly annoiiiiee or deliver any record or purpo-ted record of any bet or ...mbling odds on any horse race or any contest of speed, power or endurance of man or beast, or of any mechanical contrivance in any form received from any foreign country, shall he guilty of a misdemeanor Bad shall be punished for the first offense by imprisonment of not more thai two reafa or by ■ fine of not more than ,666 or both, and for the second and each subsequent offense shall be punished by such imprisonment only. "Sec. 2. That no person, publisher, common carrier, corporation or employe thereof Shall knowingly receive for transmission or publication or transmit o- publish from one state. OT territory into another st.it,- or territory, or from or into the District of Columbiu, or to .-my foreign country, any advertisement, di-.patch or message prohibited by section 1 of this :;i i. or announce or deliver any such gambling message, if si reeeived; and ererj person shall be deeaaed guiliy of a misdemeunor and shall be liable t i the same penalties as provided in mid section 1 of this act. •Sec. ::. That all bets, netting odds, betting re- taeas, tut winnings. pari mibul winnings and bet-lii.g tips and all records or purported records thereof and all publications, circulars, pamphlets, or anything containing the aforesaid betting records or Information are hereby declared to he nonmailable matter and shall not be conveyed in the mails ar delivered from any postoffice or by .my letter carrier. Whoever shall use or ill 1 1 mpl to use tie- mails or postal service of the Tinted Slates for the Hans mission of any matter declared by this section to he ttamaRaMs shall be liable to the Mae penalties ;,s r. idcd in s, .-ti.,,1 1 of this act." WILL MEET GENERAL OPPOSITION. Of course, stiel, ,-i measure will meet with geaeral opposition, principally from tin- press of America. 1 flatly prohibit! the publication of news in which 1 itndredx of thousands »f people are interested, tack i as being primed for the geaeral interest and not lor the biking of beta. Mere i. the idea of the New Veil, Sun aad lb raid about the proposed BtoastTOSity ill the way of legislation: "Now that prohibition baa gripped the nation the perpetual lobby at Washington which seeks the emasculation of America has directed its efforts agi.inst racing. The attack has been put into notion with the Introduction of bills bf Senator Selling of South Dakota and Representative Sillier Tennessee which would prohibit l he iaterstate transmission of odds on races ami other information which might lead men to bet on the horses. liii-mensnre, we an- told, bj Ha- chief of the anti-raring lobby, does i„,t contemplate the prohibition of racing. That, at least, is consoling. lint let tic bills be pass. -,1 and it will not lie long before tin- attack T carried into tin- state* which support i;, eing and a -.criers effort made against the sport Itself. The ancceae of the prohibition movement has made ils backers Del that they have the moral • Istiuies of the nation on their should is and that there is no limit to the anti-personal liberty legia- i t ion which the] can pu; through. Tut we doubt if lney will be permitted to go very fir. Legisla- tion directed against racing and tin- right of news papers to publish any sport news which they deem proper has been proposed m other rears, but it never get to the voting stage- "If the reasoning behind tin- Sterling anil Bin - lulls were carried 10 its logical rather lei us bbj il|pgical conclusion we Blight expect a anrasure in prohibit the interstate transmission of the re-sails ,,1" a national election on the ground that the public. lion of the inures would aid those who bad made wagers. Or perhaps .Mr. Sims might In- Induced to introduce a bin to stop tin- transmission i booting scores, since tin- nailing thereof might ii ite ill balanced minds to homicide. Then again h- might stop tin- inter-iate transmission of baseball si ores, for it is known that men lH-t on these ton, "It seems hard to impress on the minds of no n who seek the well known millennium that the male of the species is alter all Ball tin- male. If hi ling mi races is stopped men who must bet will turn to bast-ball. If that too is. stopped they will bet on anything fi checker! to the weather. The eo-mai man. we believe, is something of a gambling animal. The instinct will have to, out. and man Btade laws sever will throttle instinct. "In relation to the bills now before Congress we «!i sjre to emphasise the fad tint men hate hypocrisy, it is evident to everybody that tin attack is not directed merely against the interstate trans nisdoii of racing news. The lobby wants racing » topped all over the United States. And it never will succeed."
