William Myers, Atlanta, Ga.

Loss of income to him and many others.

J. C. Scott, United Exposition Shows, Belleville, Ill.

Would be felony to operate concessions which during war lauded as morale uplift.

G. L. Rice, Belleville, Ill.

Would place disabled soldiers on relief.

Kermit Tatham, Clinton, Ill. (letter)

Unamerican. Why did we fight the last war.

Wounded in service. Would

lose livelihood. Raised $5,000,000 in bond sales last war.

Ray Oakes and Sons, Inc., Lyons, Ill. (letter)

Manufacturer of carnival equipment. Service over 1,000 organizations such as Legion, firemen, etc. Operate in 48 States, Hawaii and Alaska. Would be put out of business.

Clifford C. Vernon, Belleville, Ill.

Put concessions out of business. Increase unemployment.

income.

C. A. Vernon, Belleville, IN.

Government lose

In carnival business 27 years. Paid from $100 to $6,000 per month to Government for admissions tax. 200 employees put out of business.

Harold Clippard, Belleville, Ill.

Many ex-soldiers thrown out of employment.

E. L. Young, owner, Royal Crown Shows, Lexington, Ky.

Put out of business. Hardship on sponsors. Thousands of people out of employment. Must have concessions to enable carnival to operate. Would be put out of business.

Vince McCabe, Chillicothe, Mo.

Disabled war veterans and commander, Disabled American Veterans Chapter 37. Put tens of thousands of people out of work. Entirely different from slot machines.

William R. Dyer, Dyers Greater Shows, Cape Girardeau, Mo.

One hundred people of his company object. Would deprive of right to make living.

K. H. Garman, Chillicothe, Mo.

Member of chamber of commerce. Would hurt business.

R. V. Nugent, Syracuse, N. Y.

Bill is un-American and unenforceable.

William B. Jacobs, Toledo, Ohio

Proposed bill another Volstead Act against the American people. Speaks for himself and 150 concession men.

Carl Bohn, Hollis, Okla.

Cause unemployment of approximately 200 people in their show. Thousands of outdoor showmen become unemployed. Government will lose many millions of taxes.

Conemaugh Playground Committee, George Fesko, chief of police, Johnstown,

Pa.

Bill will close all carnivals. Ours and like organizations receive our revenue from sponsoring same.

George C. Smith, owner, George Clyde Smith Shows, Johnstown, Pa.

Passing of bill will close my business which makes livelihood for hundreds.

Jack R. Lindsey, Dallas, Tex.

Would put tens of thousands of people out of work. Entirely different from slot machines.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE STATEMENT HERETOFORE FILED IN THESE PROCEEDINGS, BY HERBERT W. BYE, ATTORNEY FOR CLIENTS ENGAGED IN OR CONNECTED WITH THE OUTDOOR SHOW BUSINESS

To supplement the objections heretofore filed by me to the passage of S. 3357 and H. R. 6736, as written, and as a supplement to the testimony and statement given by me at the public hearings on said bills before the House of Representatives Interstate and Foreign Commerce Committee, and complying with the request made by the committee at such hearings, I wish to submit the attached, showing suggested changes in the wording of S. 3357. I believe that the suggested changes in wording will accomplish the avowed purpose of this proposed legislation, which is, as I understand it, to curb the so-called slot-machine racket. You will notice that the suggested wording follows almost identically the wording of (b2) of section 3267 of the United States Internal Revenue Code, as amended, which provides for the payment of a $100 tax on so-called slot machines. If the attached suggestion is followed, the subsequent sections of S. 3357 could remain as written, since they would then only apply to slot machines as above defined.

Respectfully submitted.

HERBERT W. BYE.

SUGGESTED CHANGES IN WORDING OF SENATE BILL 3357

1. Change the title of the bill to read as follows: "To prohibit transportation of slot machines in interstate and foreign commerce."

2. Change the wording of section 1 to read as follows:

"SECTION 1. As used in this Act the term "gambling device" means any machine or mechanical device commonly known as a slot machine, or parts thereof, which operates by means of insertion of a coin, token, or similar object, and which, by application of any element of chance, may deliver, or entitle the person playing or operating the machine to receive cash, premiums, merchandise, or tokens."

Mr. BECKWORTH. The committee adjourns until 10 o'clock in the morning.

(Whereupon, at 12:20 p. m., the subcommittee adjourned to reconvene at 10 a. m., Friday, May 5, 1950.)

GAMBLING DEVICES

FRIDAY, MAY 5, 1950

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,

COMMITTEE ON INTERSTATE AND FOREIGN COMMERCE,

Washington, D. C. The committee met, pursuant to adjournment, at 10 a. m., in room 1334, New House Office Building, Hon. Lindley Beckworth, presiding. Mr. BECKWORTH. The committee will please come to order.

The first witness we shall have this morning will be Mr. Herbert B. Jones, of the American Coin Machine Manufactures Association, of Chicago. Mr. Jones.

STATEMENT OF HERBERT B. JONES, PRESIDENT, AMERICAN COIN MACHINE MANUFACTURERS ASSOCIATION, CHICAGO, ILL.

Mr. JONES. Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, my name is Herbert B. Jones, 2640 Belmont Avenue, Chicago. I am vice president of Lion Manufacturing Corp., a manufacturer of coin-operated devices, but I am appearing herein my capacity as president of the American Coin Machine Manufacturers Association.

For the purpose of further identification, I might say I was formerly a director and treasurer of Coin Machine Institute, the organization that appeared here day before yesterday.

The members of our association manufacture coin-operated amusement, vending, music, and service equipment and in the first category of amusement equipment are included pinball games, shuffleboard, bowling games, target games, and also the games commonly known as slot machines, and the electrically operated version commonly known as consoles.

The members of our association ship their products to the various parts of the United States and in foreign commerce.

The question of foreign commerce was raised here the other day. I might say that one of our members reported to me that during the past year his company shipped slot machines to the following countries: Arabia, Austria, Bermuda, Dutch Guinea, England, Greenland, Guam, and the Hawaiian Islands-which, of course, are American territory-Hong Kong, Labrador, Mexico, Netherlands West Indies, Newfoundland, and Guatemala.

Our opposition to the proposed legislation is, of course, based among other things on economic reasons. Our very existence as manufacturers and the jobs of the many thousands of people whom we employ in our factories are suddenly and after long years, and without warning, threatened by this legislation; and I hope that in view of the direct and immediate effect of this legislation on our fate as

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manufacturers and on the jobs of our employees, I might ask your indulgence to comment on what we believe will be the certain consequences of this legislation if enacted into law.

The consequence, of course, that received the greatest publicity in the newspapers in connection with the Attorney General's conference in February was the destruction of the so-called national crime syndicate. This, however, has somewhat receded into the background, particularly since Attorney General McGrath testified before a Senate committee that he could not honestly say that his office possesses any evidence of the existence of any such national crime syndicate, and I can also say to the best of my knowledge no such syndicate exists in relation to coin-operated devices; and I say this in the full confidence that the investigations now authorized by Senate Resolution 202, the purpose of which in part is to determine the necessity of any such legislation, will show that no such crime syndicate exists in connection with coin-operated devices.

And certainly we cannot believe that the purpose of this legislation is to discourage gambling, in view of the fact, as Mr. Plaine, of the Attorney General's office, testified here, that after due deliberation and consideration many forms of gambling were purposely omitted from the scope of this legislation.

As Mr. Plaine explained here last week, the background of this legislation was the conference that was held in this city in February. I feel that it is hardly necessary to point out that this conference was by no means a representative body. It is true that the mayors of a considerable number of cities were present and I assume officials of all of the states. Certainly absent, however, were the mayors, selectmen, and other officials of many thousands of cities, towns, villages, and counties throughout the United States whose law-enforcement officers are now charged with incompetence and I say they are charged with incompetence by this conference, because the gentleman who appeared before this conference, at least, insofar as it was reported in the newspapers and later before a Senate committee, were emphatic in their statements that although gambling was not a problem within their particular jurisdictions, it was a serious problem everywhere else, and although they enforced the law very strictly in their jurisdictions, the officers everywere else in the United States certainly required Uncle Sam's assistance.

Gentlemen, at the risk perhaps of sounding somewhat old-fashioned, we can only suggest that a clamor of this kind for the Federal Government to inject itself into the enforcement of local laws is certainly a departure from the traditional political concept of this country-that the Federal Government should not be injected into local matters, particularly those having to do with the customs and habits and manners and morals of the people-and in view of the fact that many of the States have enacted legislation licensing and legalizing these devices, and I am speaking now of slot machines, suggesting at least these devices are not an evil in and of themselves, but only when so defined by law; and in view of the fact that in many States with antigambling statutes on the books, various communities, municipalities, actually quite contrary to the State law-legalize and license and permit the operation of these devices as a source of revenue; and in view of the fact that throughout this country probably millions of