Evening star., 1952-02-24
Dy George n, He'll
A wAhlHEEsa. gfssgEfARshasak o. The

htI bBHIs P6btiB BIebAtehl
ILLEGAL professional gambling ID
almost a. rare t0day a. the man
Whe can beat 4 slet machine lif he
eeuld And eRel, That ID the wegd
from Government sources and
from Pestrp Dispatch correspondents
who participated IN q leseity ENp1
Vey,
''NeaVly all the bia-shot gam-
hleFA AVe marking time" said
EHaeNe e0yle, On International
Revenue Bureau oflelal assigned
10 watch operation Of the new tax
on gamhlina,
Gambling has just ahout been
wiped out In Georgia said q re-
port from Atlanta,
"Ro0kmaking and hig.time gam
bling are virtually shut down In
the Chicago area" said q report
from there,
There II no widespread GAM
bling here" said the comment
from Peoria,
"The Federal anti-gaming tax
struck Q killing blow throughout
Indiana" an indianapolis corre-
spondent said.
New Law Given Credit.
New laws and the still glowing
spotlight turned on the underworld
Ihy the Senate Committee to In
fvestigate Organized Crime are held
responsible for the pessimistn In
the gambling industry.
Just q year ago a fantastic pro-
cession was moving before the
committee and across the Nations
television screens.
Many Of these personages bore
such colorful nicknaines as Greasy
Thumb. Cherry Nose and Little
New York.
The clilnactic hearings Of the
committees 1885, 900 inquiry were
held In New York In March oi
1861. Shortly after Chairman
Kefauver stepped down and wal
replaced by Senator Herbert n
o'Conor Of Maryland.
Much has happened, however
since the last OF these Assortet
raeketeers, hoodiums, bookmakerI
and flnaneiers sWeAted In the wit
ness chair 10 indicate the publi'
has become crime .censeiouS, TIN
eenmittee's 10 months OF effeF'
are likely TO bear fruit for 0 lont
time. s III .,N
MajoF FellOwsVp.
One OF the major folloW.ups e'
the committees work 10 now II
progress, Early In January A.
terney General Me0rath an
niounGed grand juries would b'
impaneled In each OF the % Fed
eral judicial districts to cheek OF
organized crime within theil
Jurisdictions,
Some 80 iuries either have beer
convened or called In a States ant
the District of Columbia. To a.
sist them the department has Se1
up O special racket unit.
Az another otfshoot OF the IN
uuiry the internal Revenue Burea,
set out to check the tax affairs o.
30, 900 persons classified % rack
eteers, About $50 million has beer
collected from this source ana tn
bureau expects eventually TO 90
another 0200 million.
Oddly enough, what appears u
have been the most effective blov
dealt professional gambling In 10
cent years was bitterly opp0se'
BY Senator Kefauvef, members o
Ibis committee and John b, Dun
lap, commissioner Of fnteine
Revenue. That was q provision II
last falls revenue act which 90
sessed O 10 per cent excise tak ol
the gross receipts from WAeeflh
and reduired gamblers 10 purehas
800 tan stamps, with eensequen
publicity.
Enforcement Q Problem.
Whether this was a 6unda
punch or whether the SAMPLER
are merely on the canvas for
shert count eannet be determined
At the mement, Senator kelauve
and his supporters may yet D
proved right, Mr., punlap's ehlee
tien was based on enforcement
difIieulties,
Mr., coyle told the Pest.pia
patch he viewed the immediat
situation with crossed AngeFl
: Judging by reports from the .
revenue collection districts ther
; Is no question, he said, that tn
: big gamblers have closed shop be
cause they do not want to pub
licize their activities, He estimate
90 per cent OF the country's 20
billion -dollar-a.year gambling IN
|dustry has been eliminated.
But he pointed out that ther
Ia at present o seasonal lag u
gambling.
In November and December, tn
| first two months Of the laws op
Grafton. l0,40o persons bough
gambling stamps. Most Wer
punchboard dealers and little fel
lows. No dig names were In
cluded. Total receipts for the frs
two months were less than $500,
900. Sponsors forecast the 40
would produce 9400 million o year
Mr.. Coyle expects OF least q mod
crate increase.
li,O0S slots seiAed.
The Anti.siot machine bill be
: