St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1893-02-03
Conductors Present Their Side
Of the Scalpers' Bill
Question.
Some Of the Hardships the
Traffic Always Entails
Upon Them.
Conditions Which Make Scalp
ing Possible and Also
Profitable.
Contracts Which Buyers Of
Tickets Make With Rail-
roads.

Referring to the article on page six of
the DAILY GLOBE of Feb. l, relating to
the contest by the Order Of Railway
in which 1t is stated that the railroads
by concerted action of their figure
heads, the railway conductors, have
| begun war of determination against
ticket brokers, etc., permit me to state,
| first that in this particular instance the
Order of Railway Conductors is not act
ing as figure head for the railroads.
This contest has been conducted upon
its merits by class of men who are
constantly in contact with the public,
and who are sufferers both financially
and in their regulations through the
dishonest manipulations of these UNI
necessary adjuncts to railroad transport
| tation.
Particular attention is called to the
statement in this article that it looks
very much as If the railroads were try
Ing to effect by legislation what they
| were not honest enough to do by them
selves, having it in their power to prac-
tically destroy the office of the ticket
broker. In this connection we would
like to suggest that as matter of fact
the so-called scalper's existence is en-
tirely dependent upon the concessions
granted by the railroads to the public
below the legal rates of fare as estab-
lished by the different legislatures,
| where there are laws regulating the
rates of fare in the different states.
1t is true that the railroads them
selves have the power to do
| away with the brokers, but entirely
at the expense of the public. Reduced
| rates are given by the railroads, which
are below the regular one way rates,
| for constantly recurring excursions.
embracing all classes Of people. These
rates at the time they are made are good
for all who choose to avail themSe Ives
of them, whether black or white. rich
or poor, and there would probably be
that the ticket Scalper always stands
| ready to step in as a Spectator and buy
these tickets, hold them for future use,
manipulate them by all sorts Of fraudu-
lent methods and divert the concession
| given by the railroad from its original
purpose. The article further states that
the railroads have gone into the
by refusing to sell a 2.000-mile mileage
book without deposit of $40 in addi-
ton to the price of the transportation.
| Why is this done? Simply to prevent
the broker, in conjunction with the dis
| honest purchases of the mileage book,
I from manipulating it and putting it to
| other uses, and If the broker did not
exist there would be no advance on the
price of the book asked, or any occasion
for such requirement. The argument
made by this article is very poor one
in this respect, for when broker sells
the unused portion of mileage book he
also demands sum in addition to what
the purchaser pays for his ride, as Sc
curity that the unused portion of this
book will be returned to fellow broker
at the end of the travellers journey. so
as to make sure that it will get
back to hun i'll other words a
passenger steps into brokers' office in
st. Paul where he sees an advertisement
for cheap rate ticket to Chicago. The
broker has 2,00O-mile book good over
some line to Chicago. Out of this book
the original purchaser. leaving 1900
miles in the book. The broker expects
the purchaser not only to pay the price
| of his ticket to Chicago. at whatever
rate he can get for the mileage covering
the distance, but an additional sum of
money equivalent to the amount of
mileage that will be left after the pur-
chaser has used the book, and he gives
the purchaser an order upon some fell
low broker in Chicago to refund
the money upon the return of
the book with the unused portion
Of the mileage in il. 1t
seems therefore that the brokers use
| exactly the same methods as the rail
road companies to protect themselves.
LII addition to this, these mileage books
are put up in such way that broker
cannot purchase one without perpetrat-
ing a fraud: neither can the original
purchaser of the mileage book put it in
the hands of the broker without fraud,
as his contract through which he re-
ceived reduced rate of fare was for a
large amount of mileage paid for in adj
vance and to be used by himself within
limited time. That railroad COM
pany is justified in selling 2,000-mile
books
Under Contract
that the purchaser shall use the mileage
within a limited time, is a principle
recognized by the interstate commerce
law and by state laws, and there is no
conflict whatever upon that point, but
it was never intended that dishonest
purchasers of these books should, in
collision with ticket brokers, take ad-
vantage of them to create diScrimina-
ton in fares or conduct a business
which is clearly and specifically fraudu
lent. The concession made by the rail.
road company in such case is turned
against itself and diverted to a purpose
for which it was never intended. The
2,000-mile tickets did not originate with
the railroad companies. They were
issued by the railroads upon the,
urgent request of thousands of
business men who did large amount
of travelling within limited time. and
the tact was recognized that when man
travelled from 1900 to 10000 miles in
twelve months and paid for his trans
portation in advance, he was entltledtO
the concession. Any person can buy
these books VINO complies with the rules;
they are not limited to any particular
class, and the SO deposit, in addition to
the cost of the book which is demanded.
is simply a measure to prevent fraud, is
not asked for any other purpose, and
were the ticket broker out of existence,
fraud would be impossible, as there
would be no market for fraudulent
tickets. The very fact that this bust
ness cannot he carried on without fraud
and forgery and falsehood is the strong
est argument that can be made against
it. The person who buys one of these
books from the railroad company aud
attempts to sell it to broker and the
broker who buys it. must be parties to
fraud, or the transaction could not be
carried out.
The members of our order, who ag-
gregate 10000 in the United States. are
the constant sufferers by this condition
of affairs. No train traverses any great
length of railroad in this country with
out the conductor being subjected to
argument or abuse by parties holding
these fraudulent tickets; he is placed in
the unpleasant position OF entering into
discussion over the genuineness Of the
ticket or he