The Washington herald., 1908-07-17

New York. July 16-Under the new
anti-betting law in this State betting on
an election Is as great a crime and may
be visited with as dire punishment as bet
ting on the race track. but London Loyds
viii write policies against the election of
Bryan, Just as IN many cases these ven
turesome brokers have written policies
against the birth Of twins. and in at least
one recent case have insured against a
man molesting his mother-in-law.
The policy is OF the form sometimes
loosely described as a wager or honor
policy. and while It may not be enforce
able az law. the standing Of the Lloyds
brokers gives the bettOr or insured ample
protection against any welching on the
part Of the broker.
TIE taking OF such policies IN large
numbers to-day practically opened the
betting on the Presidential election of
this year. IN the morning, the premium.
or odds. was 81 TO 1 against Bryan At
the close the odds went down TO 5ss to |
against
Manufacturer Starts Il.
The new method Of election betting
owes its origin 10 a manufacturer. who
felt very confident Of a sharp revival
Of business following the election Of Taft,
and was anxious to run his plant at full
capacity IN the months preceding the
election. If only he could protect himself
against the contingency Of Bryan's sue
cess.
In this predicament. the manufacturer
went TO prominent firm OF Insurance
frr fafHr 4 hnrr
a policy iusuring his business against
Rryaas election They cabled Iloyds
for terms and received OF hand a quota
tion Of % per cent. which IS equal 20 odds
Of about 4 to ! against Bryan's election.
The manufacturer considered the rate
too high. and to-day. after reflection.
lloyd brokers offered 20 write the policy
at 10ls per cent The offer was accepted.
and Insurance 70 the amount Of more than
S10o.000 taken AT the quotation named. The
manufacture viii put all hands 10 work
immediately
Brokers Take n slice.
Wall street brokers and stock market
operators. hearing Of the policy taken by
the manufacturer. applied for policies IN
large numbers this afternoon Some OF
them wanted the policies as a hedge on
purchases Of stocks. fearing a break IN
the stock market in the event of Bryan's
election
Others considered the odds inviting az
this uncertain stage OF the campaign and
took policies on a pure wager, either for
the reason that it vas q good long
chance FOR speculation. or IN the ex-
pectati1u Of hedging probably on later
campaign betting The amount thus
hazarCed was variOusly estimated a
cable 10 one prominent Insurance hrm
placed the aggregate az E5G.0l0. or S-1.O0o.
This was the minimum estimate The
maximum. including offers not yet ac-
cepted. was $500 nu
No Chance OF Prosecution.
All the Insurance brokers Interested
in the election wager policies insisted
that the policy holders ran no risk OF
prosecution under the anti-betting laws
Of this state.
The contract. they declared. was made
In London. and was not amenabIe 20 New
York criminal statutes They anticipate
a lively business in election policies be
tween now and the first Tuesday in No
vemher. and have made arrangements
whereby a transaction can be closed in
less than fifteen minutes They guar
antee that payment viii be made within
tventy-four hours after the determina-
tion Of the result OF the election.
Up 70 the present time no policies have
been written against the election OF Taft.
nor have any applications for such poll
cies been made