Bettor Shouse

Kentucky-born Jouett Shouse, chairman of the National Democratic Executive Committee, has sporting instincts. He bets on horse-races and elections. Often he loses. His efforts this year to win the House of Representatives for his party is a man-sized political gamble on which wagers will be made. Last week the U. S. Board of Tax Appeals revealed Democrat Shouse's efforts to deduct his betting losses from his back income tax returns..

From 1923 to 1925 Bettor Shouse lost $22,458 by picking slow horses at Maryland and Kentucky race tracks. Race horses he owned in partnership cost him another $6,273. In 1924 he dropped $1,750 by wagering that John William Davis, Democratic nominee for President, would carry Maryland.*

Bettor Shouse declined to pay $4,840 of the Treasury's assessments against him for three years, writing off his $30,481 total for horses and politics. The Board of Tax Appeals, after mulling over the case two years, sanctioned the deduction of the racing bets on the ground that Mr. Shouse followed racing for profit; but ruled that the election losses "were the result of an illegal transaction" and therefore nondeductible. A compromise settlement of $1,218 was accepted by the Treasury.

Mr. Shouse's contention had been that, if Democrat Davis had carried Maryland, he (Shouse) would have been taxed on his won bet. The arch-Democratic New York World observed: "Ah, now we have it! Mr. Shouse, of course, bet on the Democratic candidate. How could a Republican Treasury Department regard such a transaction as entered into for profit?"

* The 1924 Maryland vote: Coolidge, 162,414; Davis, 148,072; La Follette, 47,157.

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