Automatic Age

May, 1939
AUTOMATIC AGE
13
By C a r r o ll E. V e tte r ic k
W h y
N ot
T he
C o in
R e p r e s e n ta tio n
M a c h in e
URING a recent inter­
view with Jack Kelner,
following his personal
efforts to defeat vicious Iowa
legislation aimed at cigarette
vending machines, the subject of
lobbying came up for consider­
able discussion. This led to as­
sertions by Mr. Kelner that
practically all other industries
sponsored their own candidates
for State Congress and managed
to get them elected. Armed with
the proof, obtained through his
recent personal experiences with
legislators, it is only natural for
Mr. Kelner to put the question
squarely to the industry:
“ If other industries maintain
their own special representa­
tives in State Congress, why
doesn’t the Coin Machine In­
dustry sponsor and elect its
own representatives ?”
Why not, indeed? The ques­
tion has been asked countless
times before. It is not new. But
it is no less pertinent, no less
significant, no less important for
that reason. It will remain a new
question as long as it remains
unanswered. It will be a fresh
subject until it crystalizes into
action and results.
Several years ago newspapers
from Coast to Coast printed the
comment of the late Will Rogers
on this very subject. Mr. Rogers
did not ask why the Coin Ma­
chine Industry was not repre­
sented in Congress— he went all
D
fo r
In d u stry ?
the way and notified the world
that the Coin Machine Industry
could “ raise the political cam­
paign dough” to elect Congress­
men.
The principal reason why the
Coin Machine Industry has not
answered the question— has not
developed the opportunity, may
be traced to the same familiar
stumbling block: lack of organ­
ization and leadership.
The advantages of having the
Coin Machine Industry repre­
sented in State Congress need
not involve any question of
ethics. It is purely a question of
rights. It need not be considered
at all from the standpoint of
promotion but purely as a meas­
ure of defense.
Other large industries and
special-interest groups, almost
without exception, are said to be
enjoying the advantages of rep­
resentation. And they are not
always so modest about regard­
ing these advantages as matters
of rights and defense. Through
the system of bills and counter­
bills, log rolling and lobbying, it
is well-known that many of these
sponsored representatives are
potent weapons of special in­
terests.
The matters of safe-guarding
our rights and defending our
legitimate business interests are
very important to the Coin Ma­
chine Industry. They are im­
portant enough to warrant spon­
© International Arcade M useum
sorship of State Congressmen in
practically every state. These
representatives would serve as
“ watch-dogs” for our industry,
ever on the alert for bills and
hidden clauses which affect coin­
operated machines. When such
bills are introduced, and when
“ hidden clauses” are discovered,
these special representatives are
on hand to protect the industry’s
interests. Without representa­
tion it is often difficult to learn
of proposals contrary to our in­
terests in time to oppose them
effectively. And the most effec­
tive opposition is obviously that
of making counter proposals and
threats by a representative qual­
ified to do so. Lobbying, special
pleas and committee hearings do
not have much force if the in­
dustry or group affected by pro­
posed legislation does not have
representation in the legislature.
Mr. Kelner has asked the in­
dustry a question. And if we
know Jack Kelner as well as we
think we do, we will be surprised
if he doesn’t roll up his sleeves
and help find the answer— and
some candidates.
‘Chiefie— lend little Pocohontas a b u c k ."
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