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DELEGATE DUKES: Mr. Chairman, I
yield two minutes to Delegate Vcccra.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Vcccra.
DELEGATE VECERA: Mr. Chairman,
fellow delegates, a few brief points here in
support of leaving out of the constitution
reference to the lottery.
First, I do not think we are clown here
to protect the General Assembly from the
lobbyist pressures that are placed on it as
the majority would have us believe. Second,
I am simply confused over construction of
the word lottery. It might imply that bingo
is to be banned or other private gambling
situations such as various charities formed.
I would on the question of confusion alone
vote against it, Delegate Sherbow.
Third, some mention was made here of a
point that the lottery in the states of New
York and Rhode Island were not successful.
I think these states have not had an oppor-
tunity as yet to develop fully the lottery
system. As in every new situation, I think
this takes a specific amount of time in
order to iron out the wrinkles. I think this
is exactly what happened in New York. The
reason why I am saying this is I spent
some time in New York this summer, prac-
tically all summer except for one day clown
here in Maryland, at the time they were in
the process of selling tickets. They seemed
to have some difficulty in being able to ad-
vertise it and they also had difficulty in
obtaining places in which to sell the tickets.
THE CHAIRMAN: You have a little
less than a half minute, Delegate Vecera.
DELEGATE VECERA: Thank you, Mr.
Chairman. Also Delegate Gleason stated in
two years the legislature would, as a mat-
ter of fact, pass laws relating to lottery. I
say this means the people, as a matter of
fact, want a lottery. I think I remember
somewhere in school I was taught that this,
Delegate Gleason, is called democracy.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Sherbow.
DELEGATE SHERBOW: Will you tell
me, Mr. Chairman, how much controlled
time is left?
THE CHAIRMAN: I think eight
minutes.
DELEGATE SHERBOW: I vield three
minutes to Delegate Darby.
DELEGATE DARBY: Mr. Chairman,
ladies and gentlemen, we have had quite a
few humorous moments here. I think that
j if we leave this prohibition out of the con-
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stitution, this State itself will be a joke in
a few years. We have heard Judge Sherbow
say that possibly or probably within ten
years we would have a lottery in this
State. Delegate James has talked about the
fact that the legislature would undoubtedly
allow a lottery. 1 think the majority of the
minority, all of whom have spoken except
possibly Delegate Roger, has agreed that
the lottery is not a proper source of reve-
nue. I think that we can all agree to that.
I do not think we should have a lottery.
I think to make certain of this, we should
vote for this prohibition and keep it in the
constitution.
The fact is that in New York the lottery
has not lived up to expectation. The Con-
gress itself after March 31, as Judge Sher-
bow told us, will not allow federally in-
sured banks to sell lottery tickets. This was
discussed in an editorial on November l(i
in the Baltimore Stui. Also on November
16 there was one of these small articles
that Delegate Armor gave to Delegate
Dukes to read. The article stated, in re-
ferring to the Newr Hampshire lottery, that
the state-operated New Hampshire lottery,
a poor idea to begin with, is proving even
worse in practice. Expenses are gobbling
52 per cent of gross revenue prompting
some observers to note that an experienced
racketeer could handle the lottery for half
that including police payoffs. The moral
though does not mean the job should be
turned over to private industry. It should
certainly and simply be abandoned.
THE CHAIRMAN: You have one half
minute —
DELEGATE DARBY: There is no ques-
tion that as Judge Sherbow also stated, a
state lottery cannot decrease illegal gam-
bling so it is not a question of taking some
of this illegal money and using it as a
good source of revenue in this case. I
think, therefore, that there is no other
choice we have except to keep this prohibi-
tion in the constitution.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Dukes.
DELEGATE DUKES: I yield four min-
utes to Delegate Scanlan.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Scanlan.
DELEGATE SCANLAN: Mr. Chairman,
and fellow delegates, in several of my pre-
vious remarks to this Convention, it has
been my dubious pleasure to have appeared
to have opposed conservation, consumer
protection, and been in favor of unethical
legislators. Now, I guess my remarks will
be misconstrued as a statement in support
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