Coin Machine Review (& Pacific ...)

zation sent Joh n E. Pickering, the public
relations director, to the state to confer
with association and also state officials. The
policy of CMI in supporting only the oper-
ation of five-ball games was said to have
secu red very favorable reaction from legis-
lators and officials.
Many legal and legislative battles had
been fought over the subject of amusement
games since the legislation in 1939, and
before, and in more recent years music
machines had also been given a tough
break under a tax law tha t a sessed 10 per
cent of the gross earnings of the phono-
graphs. At the time, it was feared that the
Oklahoma percentage idea would spread to
other states, and a few state legislatures
have had such bills-but none have passed.
The new license law is a statute "levying
an annual licen e tax on coin-operated
music and amusement devices." It also
authorizes cities and towns to levy a license
or occupa tion .tax on such machines, ."or
persons opera tlllg the arne, or premIses
1~
1)~
FROM STOCK!
I
•
UNZEL
ushback Wire
18 or 20 Strand
68
Color Combinations
Pushback wire. for many years one of
our leadinq items. has kept pace with
the phenomenal q rowth of the coin
machine industry.
t":le wide variety of color combination.
available lends itself to devious method!>
of wirinq harness -to meet any requireo
.nents of the industry.
\!:CO:)in machine service orqanizations and
d istributors a re invited to write for com-
plete information as to how they may
belter serve their trade by furnishinq
them w ith RUNZEL quality wire.
Manufacturers of coin machines may
avail themselves of our enqineerinq
facilities for desiqninq correct and most
efficient wirinq harness.
p aymen t o r in sertion of a coin, token
or simila r o bject, cau ses or p ermits,
o r is incenti ve f o r, the propelling or
mo tiva ting of a n y b a ll, m a rble or o ther
gad ge t or o b ject tha t p r o duces o r cre-
a tes, o r makes p ossible the productio n
o r crea tion, of a g ame of skill, amuse-
me nt , e nt e rt ai nJnent or t est of
stre n g th. "
The wordinp; of this section suggests that
legislators find it a problem to cover the
big variety of amusement devices now on
the market, or likely to appear later. The
law states in another section that it "shall
not be construed to legalize any device
that may be prohibited by any of the stat-
utes of this state," and that the tax com-
mission assumes that applications are for
legal devices and no refund will be made
if a device is declared illegal.
But, to get a clear picture of what games
will be licensed, the provisions of H. B.
207 will shed much more lip;ht. This new
law amends 21 Oklahoma Statutes, 1941,
ection 965 and 970.
The amended Section 965 reads: "For
the purpose of this Act, "a th i ng of value"
is defined to be any money, coin, currency,
check, chip, token, credit, property, tang-
ible or intangible or any representative of
value or any other thing, tangible or in-
tangible, except amusement or entertain-
ment, calculated "Or intended to serve as
an inducement for anyone to operate or
play any slot machine or punch board."
T h ere will be m u ch conside r a tion
g i ven t o t hat l as t c l a u se : "except
aJnUSenl en t or en te rtain Jn en t , calcu-
la ted or inten ded to se"r ve as a n in -
d u cement for anyone to operate o r
p l ay a n y s l ot mac hin e o r pu n ch
board."
The Oklahoma law will be studied along
with two other new statutes in two other
states, the three new law making im-
portant legislative history for 1949. In
THE REVIEW for April, page 16, orne de-
tails of a new Arkansas statute were given,
calling it the first law in any state to spe-
cifically legalize free plays. The Arkansas
law specifically mentioned additional free
games as permissible.
South Carolina also has a new law which
removes the adverse situation for free plays
Send us your specifications for
Inter-Comm Cable.
fOR SALE
ROUTE OF 45 SHUFFLEBOARDS
RUNZEL
ALL ON LOCATION I IN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY. ONE PERSO
CAN
OPERATE. ALL WITH COIN COUNTERS AND ELECTRIC SCOREBOARDS.
ETTING APPROXIMATELY $100 PER DAY.
Contact
Cord and Wire Co.
~72 :~
\\. :\IOYl'nOSE AYE.
UIICA(;O 41. ILL
.8
where arne are located, in an amount not
in excess of 50 per cent of the tax hereby
levied."
- Annual tax fee listed in the law are:
"for each coin-operated radio receiving set
in hotel or tourist cabin, . 3; for each coin-
operated music or amusemen t device that
may be operated by penny coins only, $6;
for each coin-operated music or amuse-
ment device other than those already speci-
fied, 40."
An annual fee of 40, plus the fact that
many cities may also assess a fee equal to
half of the state fee, will appear as a
rather stiff licen e. But, in view of the
str ingent difficulties tllat have beset the
trade in the state for many years, the fee
will be accepted as making possible the
o[leration of machines so licensed. The law
provides that 97 per cent of the revenues
collected shall go to the general reven ue
fund and the balance to the tax commis-
sion fund.
M uch intel'e t of the trade at large will
center in the definitions of machines to b ...
licensed, and also in the fact that the new
statute repeal Chapter 33a of Title 68,
Session Laws of 1943 and other laws in
conllict with the new statute.
The law devote one section to defining
a "music device," and then a second section
to defining a "coin-operated music device."
The fact that eparate speakers may be
used, and especially that only a peakeI'
may appear in some music installations,
posed a problem for shaping the license
law.
A music device is defined as any and
all mechanical devices which render music
and may be heard by one or more public
patrons; each separate loud speaker, phono-
graph, juke box or outlet from which such
music emits is construed as a separate
music device under the law. But an exce[l-
tion is made in cases where the music
emits from more than one speaker that
transmits from the same producing mech-
anism; in this case, the law considers all
the speakers in one place, and transmitti ng
from one instrument as one music device.
The. license applies, of course, to only
the cOlll-operated music devices and is so
worded as to apply to the one phonograph,
no matter how many separate wall and bar
boxes or speakers are used in the one
place; or, the license would apply to the
mu ic installation in one place as a unit
if only one producing device is used . Th~
text states that coin-operated radio receiv-
ing set in hotel rooms or tourist cabins,
for the use of guests, shall be included
in the licensing.
The definitions of music devices and in-
stallations would thus seem to be well
drawn, to be clear in their application, and
of course to include coverage of coin-oper-
ated installations of all kinds. Television is
not mentioned by name, however.
The trade will probably be more inter-
ested in the definition of "coin-operated
amusement device" than in anything else.
The defini tion reads:
"Coin-oper a ted a musenlent device
sh all mea n a nd in clud e a n y an d all
mechan ical d evices which , upon the
VALLEY AMUSEMENT SUPPLY
1320 Myrtle St.
Phone: 2-0614
Visalia, Calif.
COIN MACHINE REVIEW