Evening star., 1934-04-11
LOCAL GAMBLING
SAYS
chairman Cannon
Citizens Scored for Wrong
| Attitude, as Police Ef.
| forts Are Praised.
|"TIN HORN" SPORTS ARE
| REVEALED BY RAIDS
Police Estimates Defended by
Maj. Brown Before House
Subcommittee.

Charges that gambling and number
"rackets" are rampant In the District
were made by Chairman Cannon of
the House subcommittee on appro-
priations during recent hearings on
the 1885 budget estimates.
"One of the most insidious and most
harmful of all the vices is the vice of
gambling" Cannon declared. There
is too much Of it going on here in the
District, there are too many number
rackets, too many gambling places
being maintained, and there Is the
wrong attitude taken by many citi-'
zens toward them"
Cannon made his charges during
consideration Of the Police Depart
ment estimates while Mai. Ernest w.
Brown. superintendent, was on the
witness stand. The police superin-
tendent said the department was
making every possible effort to sup
press vice and Cannon declared he
was glad to know it.
oSoiCS 1IuuOTu SpOTLS.
II notice that you raided a place
some time ago and took into custody,
as, OF course, you ought to have done,
a number Of people found there" said
Cannon, "and when you held them
for several hours they protested Wig
orously. They knew when they went
there that they were taking a risk
and when they lost they did not want
to pay-they WEIGHED. They were tin
horn sports. You know gambling Is
a sort Of an intelligence test. When
ever man CANDLES he indicates by
the very act that he is not as smart
as he might be. Anybody would
know, in the first place, that these
games are not run by these places for
their health. They are all rigged
against the player, against the fellow
who goes in and buys his numbers
or takes any other kind of a chance.
They do encourage the spirit of try.
ing to get something for nothing.
The establishment Of those places
ought to be discouraged and I am
glad that the police are taking every
possible ster against their operation.
We are" replied Maj. Brown. "In
the case you mentioned, I think there
was no justification for the criticism.
We made two raids that day, and on
the advice Of the district attorney. we
took in everybody, including the play
ers who were in the place. We had
to batter our way in. They had it
oarrlcaded. In one raid we had over
hundred people. We took them to
headquarters. In another place there
were so people. We took them to
headquarters. We put one group in
the Detective Bureau and another in
the Traffic Bureau, trying to keep
them separated. Then we had the lob
OF interrogating each one of those,
and 1t could not be done in an hour
or two hours. They tried to conceal
their identity and so forth, and it ran
way into the night before we were
able to finish interrogating those peo-
pie and get their names and establish
their identity. The result was that
they were detained, some of them
two to four hours.
Shown to Be Hard Losers.
We'll, they took that chance" said
Cannon. They knew when they went
there that they were violating the
law. When they lost, they did not
want to pay. They could not take 1t
on the chin.
unfortunately, the grand fury.
when they heard the first case. took
sympathetic attitude toward the
people who were detained" declared
Maj. Brown. Then later on they
changed their attitude, found out
that they were wrong. But they
failed to indict some Of those who
were raided on the ground that they
were detained unnecessarily"
Maj. Brown, developments some
times indicate that you have men
on your grand juries who should not
be members Of them," replied Cam
non. Il hope that proper care is
exercised to get good citizens on
your grand juries."
II am not very strong for grand
juries or juries, as I view them"
said Maj. Brown. "The better class
Of people are always trying to get
out Of jury service. My office is right
across from headquarters and every
time they impanel a new jury some
good friend of mine. some good busi-
ness man who ought to be on a jury,
comes in and I find that he has come
down there to try to get of Jury
service. Frankly, I am not very
strong for juries.
I'VE had a case not long ago when
they acquitted two men. and I can
not see how in the world they could
have given such a verdict, but they
did"