Evening star., 1950-02-14
big-City Mayors
Ask U. 5. Fight
AgdinstCriinne
Delegates May Seek
Measures to Curb
Organized GumbIinq

| Mayors of five large cities are
arriving in Washington today tt
press for Federal aid in fighting
crime organizations that stretch
over State lines.
The Mayors are delegates of the
American Municipal Association to
the Attorney Generals conference
to combat interstate crime, to be
held tomorrow. They are Mayors
Quigg Newton of Denver, presi-
dent of the association; De Les
seps Morrison of New Orleans
Fletcher Bowron of Los Angeles
A. E. Coho of Detroit and Joseph
Darst of st. Louis.
The ANA is an organization of
governments of 10,5OO cities.
The Mayors are expected to
urge measures to halt the inter-
state shipment, of slot machines
and to curb the use of telephone
and telegraph wires by gambling
syndicates.
McGrath Proposals Expected.
Attorney General McGrath is
expected to recommend to tomor-
rows meeting model statutes and
ordinances for the curbing of the
activities of gamblers.
Mayor Newton, who will preside,
agreed today with a District grand
jury report that organized gam
bling is one of the gravest prob
lens facing city government.
This gambling problem is very
serious" Mayor Newton said. He
added, that he was confident the
meeting tomorrow will chart a
course to meet this problem and
suggest machinery which can be
set, up whereby local and Federal
officials can attack together.
He said cities are not dumping
their problem into the lap of the
Federal Government. But. he
added, the jurisdiction of the local
governments is limited.
Expected to Back Bill.
A bill in Congress to bar the
shipment Of slot machines across
State lines is expected to be backed
by the association as well as by
the other three organizations to
be represented at the meeting.
Those organizations are the
United States Conference of
Mayors. the National Institute of
Municipal Law Officers and the
National Association of Attorneys
General.
The crime conference tomorrow
is being preceded by the annual
meeting of the United States At
|torneys' Conference. The latter is
being held at the Justice Depart
ment behind closed doors.
Attorney General McGrath, ad-
dressing the Federal attorneys,
called for crack down on vote
frauds in the off-year elections
this year.
Communism cannot survive
where honest elections exist" he
asserted. He promised that the
Justice Departments would do
everything in its power to prose-
cute violations of the election
laws.
Sacred Right to Vote.
I'VE hold one of the most sacred
individual rights to be the right
to vote according to ones convic-
tions. and a corresponding right
is the fair and honest counting of
these votes" he said.
"Our jurisdiction in election
matters is limited. but count on
the United States attorneys in
this year to do everything within
their power to guarantee to the
public that we will use all the
force of the Federal Government
wherever necessary in order to
guarantee that sacred right"
Mr.. McGrath said that when he
took office Mr.. Truman charged
him with safeguarding the rights
of the individual "in this time in
history when we are trying to sell
democracy" with protecting the
rights of small business and pros
ecuting vigorously the antitrust
laws.