Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1936-03-05
Young Democrats
Ask Consideration
OF New Measures
Hucksters' License, SteeI-Trap
Law, Games Of. Chance
Before County Organization

In lively and spirited meeting OF
the United Young Mems Democratic
Clubs held Monday night in the Police
Court Room Of the Rockville Court
House the following resolutions were
passed by the Club in a decision to
petition the Maryland State Legisla-
ture to consider the following pro-
gram: Along with other important
matters which are due to come up in
this session.
1. The Club adopted a resolution
favoring the reduction of the $4,000
hucksters license to $4,000, stating
that the $100 was an excessive fee for
farmers in Montgomery County who
derive an income from door to door
sales of certain of their farm pro-
ducts. The $4,000 fee was believed
adequate and necessary to protect
both farmers and buyers of products
handled by hucksters who would pos
sibly retail impure products as a
huckster if the license fee was negli-
BILE. It was pointed out by one of the
members that this $4,000 license fee
was originally instigated at the re-
quest of certain Chain Stores and 9TH
Ter large grocery companies in order
to increase further their monopoly on
vegetables and retail farm produce.
2. A resolution was adopted to petit
ton the Legislature to amend the
State and County gaming laws in a
manner that would make it possible
for volunteer Fire Departments,
Churches and Charitable organiza-
tons to conduct carnivals that would
include games of chance so long as
they were conducted and operated by
members in good standing of the Fire
Department, Church or Charitable or
ganization local citizens duly author
lied by them in an approved manner.
It was pointed out that certain church
carnivals in the county have derived
a helpful and necessary amount of
revenue from similar sources in the
past which were conducted on an alb
solute wholesome basis. The amend
ment to law of this fashion would
prohibit the sale of concession rights
to professional gamblers or outside
organizations which would work on
percentage basis and carry a large
amount of the profit way with them.
The amendment would also prohibit the
inclusion of any games of chance that
would operate purely on a cash or
money basis but would permit paddle
wheels and the like for the sale of
chances on useful articles either con-
tributed to, or procured by the Volun-
teer Fire Department or the Charitable
Organization conducting the carnival
or bazaar which included operations
of the kind outlined in the proposed
amendment.
In an inspired burst of oratory Will
liam E. Wooten, prominent member of
the Rockville Chapter of the United
Young Mems Democratic Clubs, held
the club members electrified in a
scathing denunciation of the Gambling
Law so far as prohibiting the holding
of Firemen's Carnivals when he stat
ed, "the operating expenses of the
volunteer Fire Dept. in Rockville
which Of necessity are incident to the
protection of life and property in the
county are not derived from any tax
able source but must, on the other
hand, come solely through the gener-
osity of its patrons and the ingenuity
and hard labor of the firemen them
selves in their many Embarrassing
drives"
James W. Cummings, Jr., President
of the Club, proposed a resolution
favoring the inclusion of this county
in the distribution of state available
funds for law libraries in the various
county seats of Maryland. This reso-
luton was adopted by the club as well
as another resolution instigated by
Mr.. Cummings in favor of the Mary
land Legislature demanding that the
Maryland State Roads Commission
conform to suggestions that will come
as result of the meeting of the
National Conference on Public Safety
to be held in the near future.
The club likewise favored resolu-
ton for the repeal of the Anti-steel
trap law so that it will conform to
the provisions outlined by various
chapters of the Isaac Walton League
in the county that would permit steel
traps not larger than No. size pro-
viding that they were visited at least
once every "a hours by the owner and
tagged by a marker who would give
the identity of the owner. This amend
ment to the present law would also
provide that the owners Of these traps
would have to obtain written permis-
sion to set their traps on the property
Iof another. This resolution was adont