Evening star., 1945-11-25
District Reopens
old Fight for
'PinbaII Law
$40 License and Curb
On Minors Proposed;
Hearing December 10
BY JOHN w. THOMPSON. JR.

Inc commissioners yesterday re.
opened the battle to control WASH
ington's pinbau machines which has
been raging on legal and civic fronts
for the past decade
They called public hearing for
10 am, December 10 on a proposed
regulation under which they would
license and regulate any "mechani-
cal amusement device" displayed for
public patronage.
The proposed regulation would
impose a $40 annual license fee for
each machine and would require
police approval of the applicant. 1t
would forbid use of the machines by
minors under II and in places with
in 400 feet of a school or play
ground.
Maximum penalty for each viola
ton would be $500 fine or 80 days
imprisonment.
Turbulent History Recalled.
The Districts long and turbulent
pinball history has been full OF
threats of seizure and actual seizure
of machines by the United States
attorney and police, court struggles
in which the operators and distrib-
utors sought to forestall seizure or
reclaim captured devices, and a
strong undercurrent of civic protest
against children spending their
lunch money" in establishments
containing the devices.
High light of the court battles
came two years ago when the prose-
cutor a policeman and two jurors
played pinbal machine before a
fascinated judge in District Court
where the defendant was acquitted
after none of the players could work
free" game out of his machine.
In April of last year. Justice D.
Lawrence Groner of the Court Of
Appeals, in a suit in which distrib-
utors asked injunction against police
seizure, held the machines are not
gambling but amusement devices.
No Rules Now in Force.
whatever inducing motive may
actuate the restless, the idle or the
curious to spend their time in this
silly form of amusement" he de-
clared, lit certainly is not the gam
bling instinct nor is it the incite-
ment to gain by chance any more
than is the game of solitaire"
At the present, there are no rules
governing the operation of the ma
chimes in the District. Five years
ago Representative McGehee, Dem
ocrat, of Mississippi, sponsored a
bill to license pinball machines at
$500 a year and cigarette vending
devices at $3.50 year He said the
plan would net s1,35o,oo0 in reve-
nue..
The proposed regulation was
drafted for the Commissioners by
Assistant Corporation Counsel HUI
bert Pair under law of 1892 which
he believes authorizes them to act.
Mr.. Pair also cited additional au-
thority from an act of 1882 on
licensing businesses.
Bulk of the legal argument over
whether the machines are gambling
devices or inspire gambling instinct
has hinged on whether a reward
was offered in the form of free
play" Mr.. Pairs draft covers
mechanical amusement Devices"
defined as machines operated by
coin, slug, token, plate or disc
where the object is to get special
number. numbers or high total
score, whether a prize is offered
or not" and regardless of whether
skill or chance governs the out
come. 1t would also include me
chanical grabbing Devices" inter-
preted to mean claw machines
which 1888 Court of Appeals de-
cision held not a game of skill.
Use by Minors Protested.
Civic interest in the machines has
been mainly in their use by minors
in various penny arcades, particu-
larly those along Ninth street in the
downtown area. Judge Fay Bentley
of Juvenile Court has stated that
many youthful delinquents coming
before her on charges of robbing
parking meters were inspired by a
desire to play machines. Under civic
criticism and threats of legal action,
operators and distributors got to-
gether several years ago and volun-
tarily offered to keep minors under
l6 from using the machines.
The number of these machines in
the District has been variously esti-
mated at between 1000 and 5000.
Three years ago the Council Of
Takoma Park, Nd, limited stores
there to one machine per store,
Assistant Superintendent of Po-
lice Harvey c. Callahan said it is
desirable from the standpoint of
enforcement as well as public inter-
est to recognize the existence Of
the devices and promulgate appro-
pirate regulations to govern them.
n n