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BAN ON SYRACUSE "OPTIONS" • Chairman Swope of New York Racing Commission Orders Immediate Halt to Betting System Declared Illegal by Attorney-General — Sheriff and District Attorney Also Notified • NEW YORK, N. Y., July 12.— Herbert Eayard Swope, chairman of the New York State Racing Commission, today wired the Onondaga Racing Association, conducting a meeting at the Fair Grounds, Syracuse, in which, as spokesman for the commission and at the instance of Governor Lehman, he directed the management of the up-state track to immediately cease operation of the option system of betting. This system has been judged by Attorney-General John J. Bennett, Jr., as a violation of the penal law. The • law provides that racing associations be given five days notice prior to action on licenses, but the purpose of the missives sent the Onondaga Racing Association and to the sheriff and district attorney of Onondaga County is to immediately stop the usage of the system, termed by the attorney-general "a thinly disguised system of pari-mutuel betting." The telegram sent to the Onondaga officials, after conference with Governor Lehman, who is insistent that the open defiance of the law be put down immediately, reads as follows: "You are hereby advised that pursuant to section 8, chapter 440 of the laws of 1926 as amended, a hearing will b*» held at the offices of the New York State Racing Commission, 155 Worth Street, New York City, on Thursday, July 19, at 2:30 oclock in theafternoon, at which you are to appear to show cause why your license should not be revoked or cancelled, under the opinion of the attorney-general of New York state that certain methods you have established and practiced are illegal, and also for other reasons which in the commissions opinion are not conducive to the interests of legitimate racing. In the meantime you Onondaga Racing Association are directed to immediately stop the illegal selling of option pools, which violates the criminal law of Continued on twentieth page. BAN ON SYRACUSE "OPTIONS" Continued from first page. the state, in addition to violating the racing laws." Chairman Swope further said: "The racing commission has no authority to act directly against criminal violations of the law, but it believes it is its duty to point out to the chief peace and prosecuting officers of Onondaga County that such violations are taking place, so that these officers may take the necessary action to stop the offenses. "When the Onondaga Racing Association appeared before the commission we were given assurance that every requirement of the commissicn, under the law, would be fulfilled. Not a word was said as to the , intention of using the illegal option system, which, in addition to the attorney-generals interdiction, had been previously ruled upon adversely by the state supreme court. "I am sorry the situation has taken on [ this aspect, but our duty is clear and the i commission proposes discharging that duty."
