The $1,000 Bribe for Slot Machine Protection
Owners of 100 slot machines propose a monthly payment to the city for the privilege of operating under police protection.
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 owners of 100 money-paying slot machines in Tacoma have made a proposition to the chief of police which, if accepted, will mean $1,000 in revenue per month to the city. The slot machines people offer to pay a license of $10 per month on each machine, providing they are allowed to put in 100 machines and to operate them under police protection. These 'slots' are unlike the trade machines that are now running in the saloons and cigar stores and are evidently greater money makers, as the owners voluntarily offered to pay double the license charged for the smaller ones. This is the city's first monthly slot machine payday, and the money has been coming in briskly since morning. There are just 50 'slots' running in the city at present, and for each of these the license is $5 monthly.
“The slot machines people offer to pay a license of $10 per month on each machine, providing they are allowed to put in 100 machines and to operate them under police protection.”
This highlights the long-standing, often blurred line between municipal regulation and vice-driven revenue in Washington's history.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.