The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1886-03-05
TICKET BROKERS.

Something About the Way In which
..Dealers" Conduct This Business.
Upon the door of q room in the Nc
Knight building, Louisville, Ky. there
is the following inscription: 1.-The
American Ticket Brokers' Association.
This is the headquarters of an organi-
zatiOn with membership of one hun
dred and fifty, operating in ninety
three of the principal cities and railroad
centers of the United States. This asso-
citation has controlled the enormous sale
of 1924. 600. 900 worth of railway tickets
in one year, and the gross sales of one
broker alone footed up 81, 100000. The
actual working capital of the associa-
ton is about $75O,oOO. Its affairs are
conducted by an executive committee
of five, located in New York. Buffalo,
Chicago. Davenport and Kansas City.
All routine business, however, is con-
Quoted by the secretary and general
manager, who was yesterday found in
side the room mentioned, up to his ears
in mass of correspondence which he
was dispOsing of as rapidly as possible,
with the aid of o stenOgrapher and
typewriter.
The brokers claim to occupy the posi-
ton of middlemen who sch goods on
commission. They buy tickets from the
companies as wanted BY customers and
the supply is unlimited. They keep .
record Of sales and report the same
monthly to the general officers of the
companies, who in turn pay q regular
commission for such services. BY de
viding this commission with their Gus
toners they are thus enabled to sell
below the established rates.
ut is claimed" said a reporter, "that
your business is an excrescence of the
regulsr passenger business, caused by
rate wars and q lack of harmony among
the different railroads. and has no legit-
innate connection with the business
proper so long rs unanimity and peace
prevail. Is this true?''
ut is the reverse of true. There
was time when the railways would put
out large blocks of tickets during rate
wars, which were bought up by specu-
latOrs to be resold when rates were re-
stored, but this is rarely done now. The
broker is the product of a commercial
necessity, and the system of broker
age, rightly understood and managed.
should and does have tendency to pre-
vent rate wars. Railway passenger
transportation is = merchantable CONF
modify and is worth in an open market
just what it will bring. When two or
more competing lines between common
points offer to sell transportation be-
tween these points there are bound to
be inequalities which can not be recon-
ciled. To fix an equal and arbitrary
price for such transportation and expect
an equal equitable division of traffic is
to attempt an impossibility."
"What proportion of the passenger
business of the country do the ticket
brokers handle?"
ut is impossible to give the figures.
The association last year handled up
ward of $20,O0O,0OO worth of business,
but this covered the entire country, and.
/ believe. no estimate has been made Of
the amount handled by the railways"
'What reason can trunk-line have
for paying You commission as long rs
the business is pooled, and each will re-
ceive its allotted proportion anyhow"
asked the reporter.
None whatever, if the pool is right
eously lived up to. But, as / have al
ready stated, the lines earning an ex-
cess of their allotment have never paid
any of it over to the weaker lines, and
probably neverwill if they can cover it
up from the commission. Then, if the
weaker lines do not earn their percen-
tages. as will inevitably happen, there
will be another adjustment to which
they will not submit. If the weaker
lines find they are not earning their
they will inevitably secretly
ignore the pool and work with the
brokers. "-Louisrilie Courier-JourndL.