AUTOMATIC AGE
M ay, 1937
13
Now is the Time to Assert Our Industry
By Arthur W. Luchs
HOUSE divided against itself
cannot stand.” It was Abraham
Lincoln who spoke those words in the
trying period of Civil W ar days. It
was the rallying cry of the times and
the focal point of his plan to main
tain the Union at all costs. Lincoln
was far sighted enough to see that
disruption and dismemberment would
be the inevitable outcome for the
Union, unless all factions cooperated
and pulled together for the common
good.
The coin-operated machine indus
try today is in a similar position to
this country during the stress and
strife of the pre-Civil W ar and the
Civil W ar period of history. It is
being assailed on many sides by fac
tions, who in many cases are moti
vated entirely by selfish interests, by
unscrupulous politicians, and the
usual run of limelight seeking
preachers and club members. These
groups are always alert to point a
finger at the entire coin-operated ma
chine industry and direct propaganda
and the press against it. They dis
tort facts and create fanciful tales
of fiction about fabulous wealth which
is now being garnered by coin ma
chine operators. They call us robbers
and people who prey upon children,
while they allow gambling in all
forms to flourish around these same
children in convenient stores and
gathering places in practically every
well populated city block. It is be
cause many of these same “holier
than thou” propagandists have their
finger in the gambling pie, that they
wish to divert attention away from
their own nefarious practices, to our
industry. They endeavor to build up
and hide behind a wall of camouflage
by throwing mud at the coin machine
industry, directing public attention to
it, so that they themselves might con
duct their own illicit business prac
tices without interruption.
Industry Is Unjustly Attacked
It appears as though people who
want public approbation and approval
deem it their “duty” to attack or “ex
pose” something or somebody that
is going along doing its own work,
molesting no one and endeavoring to
make a living for its members and
their families. Something established
and doing a good constructive busi
ness, is usually the object of these
eloquent spell binders, whose fre
quent mouthings are heard by us
from all sides — press, radio and
speeches. It is always their purpose
to clean up this terrible menace
which confronts “our children.” They
create malicious propaganda and en
deavor to sway public opinion. The
usual motive is not their zeal to de
fend the children and public from
menacing practices, but to advance
their own cause, either political or
public, for their own personal aggran
dizement.
It is about time for the entire coin
operated machine industry to do an
about face in regard to absorbing all
of these unfair methods which are
being used to sway public opinion
and legislation against us. We have
been more or less content to sit back
and allow the malicious attacks to be
continued against us without retaliat
ing in kind, or educating the public
to the correct facts of the situation.
Are we going to continue turning the
other cheek, or are we going to stand
up on our own feet and fight for our
rights and recognition? There is no
time better than the present for the
entire industry to get together and
put in some constructive licks for it
self, which will offset, if not remove
the attacks directed upon us.
We Must Stand Together
We must continue to bear in mind
that if we pull together we will stand
and make headway, but if we are
divided in our thoughts and actions,
we will lose the fight. There is the
old adage that it takes fire to fight
fire. Let us fight our attackers with
their own weapons, the printed word
and the spoken word. W hat is needed
is a nationwide educational policy,
which will present all of the facts
pertaining to the industry, and its
place in business. We should inform
the public of the amount of money
invested in the coin machine industry,
© International Arcade Museum
the number of people employed, the
number of direct and indirect wage
earners, the value of the products
used annually and the amount of
taxes paid to our already harassed
government. This can only be done
by cooperation and unification of the
entire industry. Not just the manu
facturers alone, or the operators
alone, or the jobbers alone. Every
body must do their part and keep
plugging along day by day, fighting
lies with facts, educating the public
to the fact that the majority of coin
operated machines are strictly legal
and that the industry is one of the
major one’s of the entire country.
We Are Besieged with Rackets
It is time to attack the penny
raffles, grab bags, bank nights and
the many hundreds of other devices
which are flaunted in our faces on
all sides, endeavoring to entice
money from our pockets and our
childrens’ pockets. They cater en
tirely to the gambling element, the
“take a chance” element, and give
nothing in return. Strong of will in
deed is the young child who leaves
the corner store without succumbing
to the many prizes of cheap candy
or merchandise offered to him if he
picks the correct colored piece of
candy from a box, at one ccnt a
selection. The merchant withholds
some of the prize-winning candies,
putting a few in each layer, because
the children will not play them un
less there are some of the big prizes
remaining. This is going on all about
us and nothing is being said or done
about it.
The industry should step out bold
ly and expose the many gambling
rackets that are in operation, but in
addition they should begin a con
structive educational policy to present
the facts about the coin machine in
dustry to the general public. The
best media for this purpose is the
press and the radio. All of this costs
money, yes, but it takes money to
fight money. Much money is being
spent to sway opinion against us, so
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