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Show FEDERAL AID TIM OBSTRUCT POOLS President Johnson of American League Says Help of Congress Con-gress Is Needed. BETTING. IS RUINING GAME Different Methods Tried to Eradicats Evil, but None So Far Has Been Effective Nation's Sport Meeds Protection. Congress Is to be asked to enact a law that will make betting on a baseball base-ball game, major or minor, a penitentiary peniten-tiary offens. This was announced by Tresident Johnson of the American league, who believes that will be the only method by which gimbling can be prevented from ruining the national sport. Johnson John-son has done many big things for baseball and he hopes to be successful success-ful in this because he firmly believes federal intervention is the only method meth-od of combating the evil, writes Oscar Reiehow in Chicago News. The fact that pool slips are distributed broadcast broad-cast over tha country, either by mail or express, and that the telegraph and telephone lines are used in the nation na-tion wide operation of the system, lays baseball gambling, President Johnson believes, open to attack by federal law. Sinister Forces at Work. Many different methods of dealing with the .ambling evil have been proposed pro-posed in If he lost few years, but none that he? been tried has succeeded. There have been a few arrests of men and boys at ball games, but the big menace the pool selling has never been attacked and remains an active and rapidly growing menace, nationwide nation-wide in its scope. "More than a year ago I asked Congressman Con-gressman Manr to introduce a bill OJI? S v ! ! Han Johnson. making gambling 'on basebaU a punishable pun-ishable offense," said President Johnson. John-son. "I took my attorney to his office to discuss the subject and to learn what could be done with it. Congressman Con-gressman Mann did not then believe that it was a matter for congress to take up. He thought it was an affair for the separate states. Since then I have talked with several other congressmen con-gressmen in different parts of the country and they believe that gambling on baseball can and should be handled by the congress. "I believe Washington should interest inter-est itself in protecting the nation's sport. Baseball Is an American institution. in-stitution. Millions are interested in the sport and attend the games dally. They believe In the integrity of baseball base-ball and they have a right to demand that the sport with which they occupy their leisure be kept clean. I shall most solemnly urge that action be taken at the next session." President Johnson said that he has been busily engaged in collecting data on players and that he soon will .be in a position to make disclosures, If there are any to be made. |