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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 24, 1963)
2 J) THURSDAY. OCTOBER 24. 13 MMMUKU MAU, ininuwt,, mnurunx,, Wcum Politicians Fear Gambling Issue Will Dominate 1964 Campaign OPEN FRIDAY NIGHT UNTIL 11 P.M. MOONLIGHT SPECIAL $25.95 Westinghouse Transistor Radio ... $17.95 2.16 5B Flash Bulbs ....12 for 99c 44.75 Agfa 35MM, Case, Flash 29.95 99.95 Kodak Automatic 8 Movie 74.50 TRY POLAROID COLOR! SPECIAL 3.95 ROLL $54.95 Argu C-3, Case, Flash.. ...$39.95 24.95 50x50 lenticular Screen 17.49 98.88 Bell & Howell Slide Projector 74.95 169.80 Craig Tape Recorder, portable 119.95 116.45 J-66 Polaroid Camera Kit 99.95 SPECIAL INTRODUCTORY PRICE ASA 16, 8MM AGFACHROME 4.50 Value, Processing Included 3.95 LAST CHANCE TO WIN A FREE AGFA CAMERA -REGISTER NOW! 21.95 Heavy Duty Tripod, elevator $14.95 14.95 Movie Light and Mount 10.95 BLACK '& WHITE ROLL FILM 620,127,120 - 2 for 69c $129.95 Argus Zoom 8 Electric Movie ... $109.95 104.95 Kodak Automatic 8 Projector.... 79.95 BUY ON TIME WE TAKE TRADE-INS Order Your Christmas Cards Now! Phone 772-5238 a MM Ti AJlf CAMERAS PHOTOGRAPHS 120 East Main St By NORMAN KEMPSTER United Press International OLYMPIA. Wash. (UPI) - A man with sporting blood and a minimum of advance informa tion can place a bet with a pro fessional or semi-pro gambler in almost any town in Washing ton State. In most cases, the wager will have to be a small one. Five cents in a pinball machine that pays off across the counter is a rnmmnn venture. I Rut there is a nossihilitv fnr faster action as well. Many towns have cigar stores or tav erns which double as headquar ters for football and baseball pools. And a number of private clubs hold "Members Only" gambling parties which include dice tables, roulette wheels and blackjack games. Of course, it is all illegal. But most towns have what is called a "tolerance policy" under which the authorities look the other way while the money is changing hands. Games Pay Taxes It is a comfortable pattern. The games are small and their operators usually pay taxes and license fees to local authorities. The revenue from the gambling is the difference between a bal- anced budget and deficit spend I ing for some towns. Officials usually say license fees with a set rate are prefer able to under the table "protec tion money" and bribes. Then Mayor Gordon Clinton of Seattle rocked the boat. He told the city's police to enforce the anti-gambling laws which had been on the books for years. Clinton's order shut down pin ball machines, removed punch boards from tavern counters, closed up bingo parlors and pad locked cardrooms in the state's largest city. (iambling Closed It also started a chain of events which made gambling and the tolerance policy the hot test political issue in the stale. In chronological order, here is what happened after Clinton's edict went into effect Jan. 1, 1963: The legislature passed a bill legalizing pinball machines, punchboards, pulltabs, c a r a rooms and bingo games. Dr. Homer Humiston, s ohvsician and former city coun cilman from Tacoma, the state's third largest ciy, launched referendum campaign aimed at knocking the gambling act off the state s lawbooks. Humiston collected 82,955 signatures on referendum peti tions. That was far more than the 48.K10 signatures needed to place the issue on the 1964 gen eral election ballot. On June 21 the petitions were stolen from a locked vault in the State Capitol building here. Petitions Stolen The theft of the petitions shocked Washington's citizens "Tift ClJ ta WANTS LAW ENFORCEMENT Mayor Gordon Clinton of Seattle is shown in a photo taken in 1959. He has told city police to enforce anti-gambling laws, which have been on the books for years, and as a re sult has introduced the gam bling issue into the 1964 cam paign. (UPI) - from Gov. Albert D. Rosellini down. The public generally assumed the documents had been stolen by supporters of the new law who hoped the action would keep the issue off the ballot. The thieves cracked the safe with an ease which investigat ing officers said could come only with years of practice. Po lice assume the petitions were taken by professional bank bandits. The criminals are still at large. The petitions are assum ed to have been destroyed. Washington law requires a careful name-by-name check of signatures on referendum peti tions. Only the signatures of registered voters can be accept ed. If a person signs a petition twice, his name is removed both times and his signature is not counted at all. The check had not been made before the petitions were stolen. However, Secretary of State Victor A. Meyers certified the referendum to the ballot any way. He said the stolen petitions were certain to have contained enough valid signatures to quail fy the measure. Supporters of the controver sial law protested that Meyers had no legal authority to take the stand he did. They took the case to court. Meyers Upheld Movers won the first round. Superior Court Judge Charles T. Wricht ruled that tne certinca- tion was legal. He said if the referendum did not appear on the ballot it would "place a premium on the commission of a felony." Wright's decision was an- OPEN FRIDAY NIGHT, OCTOBER 25! You Are Cordially Invited . . . To Come In Tomorrow Night And Sec The New 1964 Chevelle Malibu Super Sport Coupe You've Never Seen Anything Like This Car Before ! Sec All The New '64 Chevrolcts Now On Display At Courtesy Chevrolet 9th and Bartlctt Streets Medford, Oregon Chevrolet Chcvllc Chevy II Corvair Corvette pealed to the state supreme court. Oral arguments are scheduled Oct. 28 before the nine-judge tribunal. When the city ot Seattle put the lid on the tolerance policy, the effects were immediate and economic. To begin with, the city treas ury lost about $400,000 which gamblers had paid each year for tolerance policy license fees. Operators of pinball machines, card rooms and bingo games were forced to go underground or go out of business. Cigar stores and lunch coun ters which had depended on pinball and punchboard reve nues to operate at a profit were hurt. So were the mechanics who service pinball machines. Council Unhappy The city council was unhappy because of the lost revenue. Mayor Clinton issued his decree over the opposition of a major ity of the council members. The Teamsters union, which represents pinball mechanics, was unhappy. So was the re tail clerks union. City officials in towns which had a tolerance policy and wanted to keep it became alarmed. Clinton's order was strictly a local one, of course, but other towns were afraid the fuss in Seattle might force them to begin enforcing the state's anti-gambling laws too. Together, city officials, unions and gamblers made a powerful lobby. The legislature listened. A gambling bill was drafted and rushed through the Senate. It attracted little attention until it reached the Upper House floor for debate during a Satur day afternoon session. The measure was approved by a 32-15 vote although Sen. A. L. Rasmussen (D-Tacoma) protested that "even two-bit gambling" was a million dol lar illegal business. Invites Crime The bill attracted headlines when Seattle Police Chief Frank Ramon told a House committee that the measure was "an open invitation to syndicated crime to come into the state." Ramon added, "I know it will take advantage of that invita tion." The committee which gen erally favored the bill adopted a set of amendments which Chairman Ed Morrissey (R-Yakima) insisted would meet Ramon's objections. However, opponents of the measure like Rep. Don Miles (R-Olympia) insisted that even the amended bill would pave the way for "wide open gambling." - The bill passed the House by a 62-36 vote on the next to the last day of the regular legisla tive session. The Senate ap proved the House amendments less than an hour later and sent the measure to the governor. Rosellini said he didn't like the bill and would not sign it. But in a deft exercise of politi cal fence-sitting, he permitted it to become law without his signature. Regret Voting Most of the 94 legislators who voted for the bill now wish they had stayed in bed the day the proposal was on the calen dar. The theft of the petitions has convinced a great many citizens that opponents of the bill were right when they warned of organized crime. The gambling issue is sure to be the most explosive of the 1964 election campaign and many lawmakers are afraid their careers may be destroyed by the blast. Just how much the history of Washington State will' be changed by the chain of events which started in Seattle, nobody i Knows now. hui most seasoned politicians fear the flashing lights of pinball machines will dazzle the voters and keep them from seeing anything else next fall. m FRIDAY Fx-Teocfier Indicates Problem in New Role SPRINGFIELD. Mass. (UPI) Former teacher Walter Eng lish has problems in his new job as intcrgroup relations spo- ; cialist for this western Massa chusetts city. A letter requesting him to speak to a youth group asked that he make the problems of ; juvenile delinquency, alcoholism and illegitimacy "more real to us" because "they haven't hap pened much here. INSTANT HUMIDITY NEW YORK (UPI) - House plants can easily be given a humid atmosphere by placing uiem in their clay pots on a bed of gravel or crushed stones in a tray containing water. The gravel supports the planted poU above the water level. The porous nature of the clay pots encourages evaporation of the water. PAINT I'ROC.RKSS MINNEAPOLIS (UPIl-.Since Die introduction of linseed oil-and-water paint formulas in in 1960, the paint industry has used about 10 per cent "more linseed oil, an increase of 33 million pounds, according to Cargill, Inc., vegetable oil processor. About 1.000 species ot (he or chid have been identified in I Csta ici. MOON LIGHT At Your Hometown Hardware . . . SISKIYOU HARDWARE Stop By and See These Great Values! Black & Decker j ft88 "EASY0N" Storm j OQc Va" DRILL I U Windows -.,, h 0 16-oz. SPRAY cQQc Caulking QQC PAINT t-:lr nSICJ Compound? JU U.S. Approved Rural E A7Q Arvin.3j0w.it m y Qr Mail Boxes 7 Elec. Heater 1 ffiao Moonlight Special! 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For dependable quality and consistent satisfaction you will do better with the brands you know; get to know thosp you see advertised in this newspaper. To get the most for your money buy by Brand S'amt nnd bt sure.' CONFIDENCE BRAND NAMES SATISFACTION A Brand Xante is a maker's reputation 'RAND NAMES FtH.'SDVriON, INC. T flFTH AVINLH, NEW VOHK IS. N V. I I
