there are pretty respectable people there waiting for planes. I met my own Congressman waiting for a plane in Chicago. Mr. MCGUIRE. As a matter of fact, if you go into almost any club in the country, they have those bowling games now? Mr. PICKERING. You mean the coin-operated games? Mr. MCGUIRE. Yes, and you will find that women play them as much as men. Mr. PICKERING. That is a very clever game, and skill is the predominant factor, and if you throw the puck in the gutter you do not get any score, and if you throw it to one side of the alley you may knock down one pin by an electrical process, but if you throw it down the center you may knock down all of them; so it is certainly predominantly a game of skill and one of the finest amusement games we think in the country and we are very proud of it in our industry. Mr. MCGUIRE. I was at an Elks party back home about 2 weeks ago, and the women were enthusiastically playing the coin bowling device to win orchids and the point I want to bring out is that very respectable people play these games. We have been led to believe by some witnesses that not the best people are gamblers. Mr. PICKERING. There is one thing about this industry that is something like women's clothes. You have got to be changing all of the time to get player appeal. Mr. DOLLIVER. I want to ask one question and then I am through. I just want to point up your testimony, Mr. Pickering, that from what you have said in answer to the questions here, the only thing that you are concerned about in this hearing is to avoid the inclusion of coin-operated amusement devices as distinguished from gambling devices in this legislation. You feel that your industry of coin-operated amusement devices should in no way be interfered with under this kind of legislation? Mr. PICKERING. We think that they should be excluded. Mr. BECKWORTH. At this point, Mr. Pickering, would you mind including a list of the members of the institute? Mr. PICKERING. Mr. Chairman, I am not too familiar with congressional committee procedure, and I do not have the list, but I thought of it this morning and I will have our office furnish you with such a list; is that satisfactory? Mr. BECKWORTH. And if you have not already done so, will you define in the briefest language you can "pin ball" machines? Mr. PICKERING. At the time we submit the list we will be very happy to do that. (The list of members and the definition submitted are as follows:) COIN MACHINE INSTITUTE MANUFACTURING MEMBERS Pantages-Maestro Co., 1035 McCadden Boulevard, Hollywood, Calif. A. B. T. Manufacturing Corp., 715 North Kedzie Avenue, Chicago 12, III. A. M. I., Inc., 127 North Dearborn Street, Chicago 10, Ill. Chicago Coin Machine Co., 1725 West Diversey Avenue, Chicago, Ill. John F. Frantz Manufacturing Co., 1946 West Lake Street, Chicago, Ill. Williams Manufacturing Co., 4242 West Fillmore Street, Chicago 24, Ill. Edelco Manufacturing & Sales Co., 1438 Franklin, Detroit 7, Mich. International Mutoscope Corp., 4401 Eleventh Street, Long Island City 1, N. Y. Pepsi-Cola Co., 3 West Fifty-seventh Street, New York 19, N. Y. Accurate Spring Manufacturing Co., 3811 West Lake Street, Chicago, Ill. Atlantic India Rubber Works, Inc., 571 West Polk Street, Chicago 7, Ill. The Midland Sales District, Lamp Department of the General Electric Co., 230 General Laminated Products, Inc., 2857 South Halsted Street, Chicago 8, Ill. Hooker Glass & Paint Manufacturing Co., 659 West Washington Boulevard, Ideal Metal Products Co., 1829 South Fifty-fifth Avenue, Chicago 50, Ill. Illinois Lock Co., 800 South Ada Street, Chicago, Ill. Independent Lock Co., 555 West Randolph Street, Chicago, Ill. Industrial Screw & Supply Co., 711 West Lake Street, Chicago, Ill. Linehan, Inc., 308 West Erie Street, Chicago 10, Ill. Master Screw Products Co., 170 North Halsted Street, Chicago 6, Ill. Spaulding Fibre Co., Inc., 4770 North Lincoln Avenue, Chicago 25, Ill. W. W. Wilcox Manufacturing Co., 564 West Randolph Street, Chicago, Ill. Monarch Tool & Manufacturing Co., 5 East Third Street, Cincinnati, Ohio. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF PINBALL MACHINE Prepared by Coin Machine Institute The word "pinball" today is often used to designate coin-operated amusement machines of all types. This is particularly true of many municipal ordinances and State laws licensing amusement machines. Generally, however, and especially within the coin-machine industry, the term "pinball" machine is used to designate an electrical coin-operated game which in principle is similar to bagatelle. The game is played on a flat rectangular table approximately 22 by 50 inches mounted on four legs with one end of the table at a lower elevation than the other. A square backboard is mounted at the high end of the table for the purpose of registering the player's score. After the insertion of a coin 5 balls are made available for play. These are propelled onto the playing field one at a time by means of a spring operated plunger on the right-hand side of the table. The ball is shot by pulling the plunger back along a scale marked in degrees and then releasting the plunger. The distance from the ball at which the plunger is released determines the speed which the ball will have when propelled onto the playing surface. As the ball rolls down the slanting field it strikes bumpers, springs, and similar hazards until it reaches the lower end of the table where it drops into a rack and becomes inactive. Electrically controlled flippers or paddles operated by buttons on each side of the cabinet may be used by the player to control the course of the ball as it rolls down the playing field. The object of the game is to strike various obstacles so that a high score is achieved and registered on the backboard. Very often in addition the player has another objective such as spelling out the name of the game or some similar objective. When the five balls have been played the game is over. If the player achieves a certain high score the machine automatically makes it possible for the player to replay the game a limited number of times without the insertion of another coin. The use of the replay mechanism is optional and may be connected or disconnected by the owner of the machine. The wholesale price of a pinball machine is approximately $190. The slot machine manufacturers have placed on the market a "console" type of machine built to resemble a pinball machine. This machine is generally called "one-ball" because it is played with only one ball. It is readily distinguishable from a pinball machine. It is never called a pinball machine in the trade but it is classed as a console. The wholesale price of this machine is approximately $450. Mr. BECKWORTH. I was interested in your statement about playing the machines at the airport. Do you feel that there likely is any gambling on these machines to which you have referred? Mr. PICKERING. Would you repeat that question, please? Mr. BECKWORTH. You mentioned, for example, that there is a lot of playing of certain machines in airports and airport terminals. Do you feel that there is any gambling at all on those machines? Mr. PICKERING. You mean between players who might play them? Mr. BECKWORTH. I mean just exactly what I asked you, do you feel that there is any gambling? Mr. PICKERING. In any airport I have been in, the games are played and they watch and see what happens and then they walk away. In other words, it is purely recreation. There is nothing on the machine to pay them, and there is no one in the establishment to pay them. Mr. BECKWORTH. Your testimony is that with reference to the kind of playing you are talking about, there really is no gambling at all? Mr. PICKERING. That is my opinion. You cannot stop two people from saying, "I will bet you I will get a higher score than you will," obviously. But the game of itself is not a gambling device. In other words, you do not play it with the hope of walking away with something in your pocket. Mr. BECKWORTH. I have one other question. You mentioned that many of these machines are inexpensive. Mr. PICKERING. The play of them, the play of the machines was inexpensive. Mr. BECKWORTH. Are the machines inexpensive, or rather expensive? Mr. PICKERING. I presume it would depend on what you consider their income. Mr. BECKWORTH. I am talking about generally, what does a machine as you have referred to it, say at the airports, what does it usually cost? Mr. PICKERING. I believe the retail value is somewhere in the neighborhood of $200, and I think in some cases it goes to $225, and once in a while $250, but I think that that would be absolutely the tops. I think an average is somewhere around $225 and $250. That is the retail price. Mr. GRANAHAN. Do you feel that punchboards are included, Mr. Pickering, in this proposed legislation? Mr. PICKERING. I am not a lawyer, but reading the language as a layman, I don't see it here. Mr. GRANAHAN. Does any member of your association manufacture punchboards? Mr. PICKERING. Indeed not. There are coin-operated punchboards, by the way, but they are not members of this association. Mr. WOLVERTON. Mr. Chairman, I have an observation I would like to make. It would seem to me from the way that this hearing has gone that the real difficulty comes in arriving at what you might from an honest standpoint consider games of chance or games of amusement. It is conceivable from the questions that have been asked that even the most innocently designed machine can be the subject of gambling depending upon the desire of the individuals who may be playing. Just as an indication of how innocent we can all be in these matters, it came to my attention yesterday-and this practice I don't think comes within the language of this bill, but merely illustrating the innocence that can be played upon under some conditions-I heard someone say, that a book was being made on how many Members of Congress would answer the roll call. Mr. PICKERING. I would not doubt it. Mr. WOLVERTON. It just goes to illustrate how easy it is to make innocent people, or innocent machines-in one case Members of Congress and in the other case the machine-into gambling machines or gambling devices. I can see why the Senate may not have held any hearings on this bill. They passed the bill without any hearing and they saved themselves all of these differentiations that have been drawn here, and they saved themselves from being looked upon, as a result of their questions, with a degree of suspicion as to their knowledge of gambling devices. Mr. WILSON. Mr. Chairman, I would like to ask Mr. Pickering some questions. In your statement you say that some years ago your association expelled from your membership some of your members, and I understand that you will include the list of your present membership by name. You say you did expel one of your members for the purpose of cleaning up your association? Mr. PICKERING. Yes; our own industry. As I said in my statement, we think it is a civic duty to establish high standards of conduct for an industry. Mr. WILSON. How many did you expel? Mr. PICKERING. I was not there at the time this was done. There may have been half a dozen. Mr. WILSON. Were they all manufacturing coin-operated devices? Mr. PICKERING. Yes, sir. Mr. WILSON. Gambling devices as you describe them? Mr. PICKERING. Yes, sir. Mr. WILSON. They were manufacturers of gambling devices? Mr. WILSON. In the next paragraph of your statement, Mr. Pickering, on page 2, you state that, just like all of the rest of the people in this room and the members of the committee, you are citizens of the community, and I appreciate that. You are doing something as an industry about cleaning this situation up. What are you doing? That is, other than the expelling of manufacturers who do manufacture gambling devices? Mr. PICKERING. Well, for instance, this is a highly technical industry, and we have been asked by legislators to give them some help in passing certain legislation. For instance, California had a special session to deal with gambling devices, and it was called by the Governor, and we were asked specifically to support that legislation with anti-slot-machine legislation, because the California law, they felt, was not strong enough to deal with their own situation. We supported it by letter to the committees, and that is a matter of public record. We did the same thing in the Legislature of Florida. We opposed that legislation. That was a matter of opposing legislation at the request of our members, and we were asked for help by some of the legislators who did not understand the technicalities of this business. We supported that with both letters and telegrams to the committees which were considering the bills. That has been part of the program. We realize that we cannot very well say that we are opposed to this and then when people come along refuse to give them any help. Otherwise, we would not be discharging our obligations to ourselves. Mr. WILSON. Now, in answer to the question I just put to you as to what you are doing, I sum up that you have been furnishing advice in the way of legislation just as you are doing today? Mr. PICKERING. Yes; just the same thing. Mr. WILSON. Now, you have presented in your statement in so many words an addition, by way of amendment, to section 1 of the bill, which would be an exemption of a class, including pinballs? Mr. PICKERING. That is correct. We call them amusement games. Mr. WILSON. I want to ask you the precise question and I would like to have the answer from your counsel who is seated at your side, if you cannot answer it. In the case of this proposed amendment, would it be clear to exempt or would it include in the definition of "gambling device" those machines or those instruments that pay off by way of a free game? Mr. PICKERING. I would rather have our counsel answer that. That is a highly technical matter. Mr. WILSON. I ask it precisely because in some cases, or in some States, I am informed, the rulings of the courts are that where there is a free game it is a gambling device in so-called amusement machines. Can I have the answer from your counsel? |