126 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



people in their community showing that they ahsolutely stopped that and 

 it wasn't on their grounds after a certain date. They sliowed us con- 

 clusively that they had conducted a good, clean fair. We didn't decide 

 it that day. We had another session the next day. 



The next case w^as that of a fair that had never allowed anything of 

 a questionable character on their grounds. I know that personally be- 

 cause I had visited their fair very often and they had never allowed games 

 of any kind. Last year they allowed the little game— you probably had it 

 — the little Charlie Chaplin doll proposition. When the parties said they 

 would protest that game the fair officials immediately threw it out, be- 

 cause they did not want a gambling proposition of any kind. The secre- 

 tary of that fair asked the fair managers of the preceding fair if it was 

 legal, and he was told that they had information from the attorney gen- 

 eral that it was allowable, that they could use that. The secretary 

 wasn't satisfied with that, however and went to the attorney general and 

 laid the matter before him. The attorney told him he thought it w«as 

 not violating the law. There was the word of the county attorney who 

 was supposed to represent the attorney general's office in the state of 

 Iowa, as all counties attorneys are, and of the management of the pre- 

 ceding fair. It took us a whole day to hear the case. They brought evi- 

 dence from a minister, and everybody connected with the fair came down. 

 The attorney assumed that it was a case of gambling; but under the 

 circumstances, while the thing had been a divided proposition as to 

 what constituted gambling, in view of the recommendations they brought 

 down, we decided that the association was entitled to draw the state aid. 

 That was unanimous, that agreement; and the next thing we heard was 

 that the auditor of state had held up their warrant. 



We took into consideration certain extenuating circumstances and the 

 fact that the best people of the town had come down with sworn af- 

 fidavits in regard to the conduct of the fair, and upon the hearing we 

 allowed it. That is, the executive committee of the department of agri- 

 culture allowed it, but when it got to the auditor of state he refused to 

 sign the order. 



Question: ^\niat was his excuse? 



Mr. Cameron: He said it was gambling. 



Mr. Rigby: We gave away an automobile. It was a good thing. I 

 took the matter up very carefully and found out how far we could go, 

 and after a thoro investigation I was also very careful not to say any- 

 thing about what was put into the mails. I wouldn't want to be quoted 

 as giving absolutely correct details in this matter, but that is approxi- 

 mately correct. As an illustration of what is done in other states: In 

 Denver, Colorado, they placed a number of beans in a jar on exhibition 

 in a drug store window and whoever guessed nearest to the correct 

 number of beans in the jar got a prize. The supreme court decided it 

 was not gambling inasmuch as the beans were practically the same size 

 and the cubic capacity of this jar could be accurately determined, and 

 then it was a simple question of mathematics. That was all right. 



