Evening star., 1950-05-01
Gambling
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race wire service. Mr.. Landon said
that the company could go to law
enforcement authorities but he
didn't know if that had ever been
done.
II don't think Mr.. Landon has
made out much of case Of CO.
operation with local authorities" :"
Senator Kefauver remarked.
When Senator Kefauver sug-
gested that the billing on these
telephones during the racing sea-
son would be revealing, Mr.. Lam
don said the bills were available
to law enforcement officers and
added, "We feel we should not be
shoppers of the peoples business" :"
Mr.. Landon testified that bookies,
in stringing telephone wires them
selves, would remove telephones
from nearby homes and concen-
trate them in one place. When
Senator Mcfarland asked about
telephone he understood had
been installed in a tree near Hia-
leah, Mr.. Landon said he was sure
none of the phone company in
stallers ever put phone in a tree.
Recalls No Larceny Charges.
Senator Kefauver told the wit
ness that moving telephone from
one place to another could be con-
sidered violation of larceny laws
and he wanted to know if phone
companies had ever prosecuted.
Mr.. Landon said he didn't think
so but wasn't sure.
In his prepared statement, Mr..
Landon said the companies did
not want bookies' business but
added. eve feel strongly that it
would not be in the public interest
for telephone companies to be re-
quired to establish a censorship
over millions of telephone CONVEX
sations in order to prevent such a
use Of the service"
He said it was one thing to CO.
operate with law enforcement
agencies and remove telephone
service when informed it was be-
ing used for illegal purpose.
ut is quite another thing" he
added, land we believe a danger
GUS and unsound thing, both from
the public's point of view and our
own, to assume the function of law
enforcement ITSELF"
Wants Law Aimed at Senders.
Mr.. Landon also argued that If
the committee decides transmits
sion of gambling information
should be outlawed, the law should
be aimed at the senders of gamb-
ling information rather than put
ing the burden on the telephone
company.
Clyde S. Bailey, executive vice
president of the United States In
dependent Telephone Association,
told the subcommittee that the
proposed bill would have the eff
feet of converting telephone COM
panies into police agencies. Speak
ing for the trade group, which,
he said, represents approximately
$500 independent telephone COM
panies, Mr.. Bailey told the sub
committee:
I'm order to be sure that no
calls get by which are within the
condemnation of the bill, and thus
protect ourselves against the pen
alties of the law, it would be nec-
essary for us to monitor all calls,
regardless of their intimacy and
privacy and regardless of whether
they are related to gambling or
not, and even regardless of i'm
portant considerations of national
defense"
Says 1t Could Not Be Done.
He said this monitoring would
require "a whole army of en-
ployes" and could not be done.
Telephone companies" he said,
'are not schooled in the art of
crime detection. That is not their
business. They are schooled in
the art of speeding the messages
of mankind, not listening to
them"
He asked the subcommittee how
a telephone company could prove
the information was not intended
to be used for gambling purposes
without monitoring every tele-
phone while calls were being made.
He warned that the bill "could
easily become the first step to-
wards an effective communica-
tionS censorship"
Senator Tobey told a reporter
before today's hearing that he
wants to look into the legal aspects
of a raid by New Jersey officials on
Western Union Office in Bridge