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"BOOKIE" BILL UP TO GOVERNOR Maryland Measure Legalizing Bookmakers for Revenue Passes House of Delegates Provisions of Law Call for Yearly Fee of ,000 ANNAPOLIS, Md., April 6. A bill which legalizes bookmaking in pool rooms, which was one of eleven provisions in a relief tax schedule, passed the .house of delegates "early this morning. Nineteen counties of the state are exempt from the provisions of the bill, which aims at amassing revenue from hitherto untaxed sources. Optimists in the house declared that the passage of the law will realize about 00,000 toward the ,000,000 relief tax program. The amended bill passed the senate and now goes to the governor for his signature. The provisions of the law calls for a yearly license fee of ,000 and a 1 per cent tax on all bets recorded. House amendments of the bill setting up the state comptroller as czar of bookies included a provision that all. employes, as well as operators, of bookmaking establishments must be residents of Maryland. An operator must have been a registered voter for five years, employes two years. It also included an amendment forbidding establishments within 300 feet of churches or schools and within 600 feet of another. Cecil and Howard Counties were added to the other seventeen already exempted. INCREASE NUMBER OF DAYS. Twenty more days are added to the schedule of dates in the state, which will bring the total on major tracks to 120 racing days. Baltimore city and establishments which adjoin the District of Columbia line are looked upon to furnish the bulk of revenue. Well informed followers of the .progress of the bill believe that, despite the drastic provision regarding the five-year voting requirement of an operator. New Jersey commissioners will make Baltimore their headquarters when and if the governor signs the bill.
