2192                                         VETOES

Senate Bill No. 407—Slot Machines in St. Mary's County

AN ACT to repeal Sections 93A 93B to 93D, inclusive, of Article
19 of the Code of Public Local Laws of Maryland (1930 Edition),
title "St. Mary's County," subtitle "Licenses," as added by Chapter
181 of the Acts of 1951, and to enact new Sections 93A 93B to 93E,
93D, inclusive, in lieu thereof, to stand in the place of the sections
so repealed, to permit the keeping, maintenance, operation and dis-
tribution of slot machines in St. Mary's County where licensed by
the owner or operator of the premises where kept for use of the
public, to provide for licenses for operation or ownership of slot
machines, AND OTHER AMUSEMENT DEVICES or for the sale
or lease of slot machines, to limit the number of slot machines which
may be licensed, to require disclosure of certain information on
machines, to establish the Coin Operated Machine Licensing Board
of St. Mary's County, PROVIDING AN EXCEPTION FOR THE
PURPOSES OF THIS ACT FROM THE PROVISIONS OF SEC-
TIONS 237 TO 264, INCLUSIVE, OF ARTICLE 27 OF THE
ANNOTATED CODE OF MARYLAND (1957 EDITION), BY
MAKING PROVISION FOR THE EFFECT OF THIS ACT IN
THE EVENT OF THE ENACTMENT OF A STATE-WIDE LAW
PROHIBITING THE OWNERSHIP, OPERATION OR MAINTE-
NANCE OF SLOT MACHINES, to provide penalties for violations,
and relating generally to the ownership or operation of slot ma-
chines in St. Mary's County.

May 2, 1963.

Honorable William S. James
President of the Senate
State House
Annapolis, Maryland

Dear Mr. President:

I have today reviewed Senate Bill 407 and, in accordance with
Article 2, Section 17 of the Maryland Constitution, I am returning
this Bill to you, accompanied by my veto message.

Senate Bill 407 is a local St. Mary's County bill designed to revise
the system of licensing slot machines in that County. Although I am
in no way in opposition to the purpose and intent of the Bill, I am
advised by the office of the Attorney General by letter dated April
24, 1963, that an obvious inadvertence in the Bill may render the
State-wide bill on the abolition of slot machines invalid in St. Mary's
County.

I am attaching to my veto message a copy of the Attorney Gen-
eral's letter and request that the same be included as a portion of
my message. I bring to your attention paragraphs 2 and 3 of the
Attorney General's letter, which point out the concern over the wel-
fare that this Bill, if signed, may have on the State-wide legislation.
Because of this, I feel that it is necessary that this Bill be vetoed.

With kindest personal regards, I am

Sincerely yours,

(S) J. MILLARD TAWES,

Governor.
JMT/ss