The Nickel-in-the-Slot Return
Following a court ruling, Walla Walla's gambling machines reappear on city streets, leaving police and officials at odds over enforcement.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
The familiar chug of the nickel-in-the-slot machines is again to be heard in the city. Hardly had Judge Bell finished his ruling in the so-called test case, than the cigar-stand keepers and the pool-hall owners throughout the city hauled the grabbers out from their storerooms and set them up for the delectation of their patrons. Chief of Police Willard stated that the police will not interfere with the machines. The city comptroller's office stated that until new rulings are made, city licenses will be issued as before. There is an unrepealed city ordinance allowing the machines to be licensed as 'automatic devices for the sale of merchandise.' Authorities seem to take the position that so far as the municipality is concerned the machines are legitimate and that it is up to state and county authorities, such as the sheriff and prosecuting attorney, to enforce state laws. City officials argue it is the duty of the city to avoid complications by allowing county authorities to enforce state laws, while the city ordinance remains the governing authority for the police.
“It looks to a man up a tree as if the trade machines would soon be operating in Seattle under a $10 a month fine plan.”
The tension between local ordinances and state-level regulation of gambling continues to evolve in Washington. Much like the 'merchandise' loophole used in 1903 to bypass anti-gambling laws, modern debates over digital gaming and sports betting frequently center on jurisdictional ambiguities.
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