The Washburn leader. [volume] (Washburn, McLean County, N.D.) 1890-1986, 1894-02-03
sCALPERs ARE ON II
THE ANTI-BROkER LAW rs =,
CLARED UNCONSTITUTIONAL. !.

THE ANTI-BROkER LAW Is NJ.
CLARED UNCONSTITUTIONAL.
Judge Willis, Of the Ramsey Eounh
District Court, Decides That p
famous Law of the Last Lee,,
lature Is Void.
St. Paul, Jan. M.-One of the mo,
important decisions made in the Ramse
county district our was that read M
Judge Willis i'll open court in the cas
Of the state against G. Il. Corbett. hi
dicted under the ticket scalping la% y
so. called, passed by the last legislatureI
In that ease Il demurrer to the indie.
ment was interposed by Hitler H. Hortos
who argued the cas- with great abiItd
assisted by his partner, Mr.. DenepreI
while the county attorney, Mr.. ButlsI
assisted by Mr.. Charles Bum, appeared
70: the state. Judge Willis sustained I'M
demurrer and will certify the ~questioI
to the supreme court for u final decision
The law was attacked on the ground
Of it's constitutionality. After referrinI
to the provisions OF the law, .JudeI
Willis says, in his memorandum. l
The act contains no provision ri
quiring the issuance of q license to. seA
these tickets to II citizen of good challl
acter who may apply for such license andI
pay the fee therefor. 1t provides no quail
ifications as to character or competence
on the part of an applicant for a %license.I
All that is required of an applicant i'll
that he shall be presented to the licensl
Ing authority under the potent patronage
of a person or corporation fortunate
enough to be the owner Of a railway orl
Il steamship. 1t is made, by this statute
the duty of the owners of any railway oil
steamship to redeem tickets for the trans.I
pLrtation of. passengers once issued byI
sucl. owners, in cases where the original
vendor is the owner of a railroad ID
steamboat situate or operated, in whole
or in part, within this state No preI
vision is made for the redemption oil
tickets of the kind mentioned sold lyl
persons other than the owners Of every
railroad or steamboat situate or operated
in whole or in part within this state
There is no provision in the act for
the redemption of the ticket described
in the indictment in the case at bar, i'll
such ticket We're originally purchased in|
the State of Wisconsin from the agent oil
a railway company chartered under the|
laws of that state AND owning and con.
trolling no lines outside of Wisconsin.
Suppose the ticket mentioned in the in.
dictment was sold to the defendant all
Milwaukee. Wis. Unless he bought i'll
from an agent of the Northern Pacific
Railroad company he "a neither sell til
nor force it's redemption under the laws
of this state if. the statute under con.
s%;deration be allowed full force. His
property i'll this ticket is thus nnnihilated
so far as its e~xchaneeable value is COLI
cerned. The ticket is marked not trans.
ferable.' But the condition simply means
that the issuer Of the ticket will not
recognize it as Il sufficient evidence in the
hands of. any assignee of the original
holder to entitle such assignee to trans
portation by virtue thereof. 1t does not
extinguish it's existence as an article Of
commerce. That result is accomplished.
however. if the statute under( review is,
constitutional.
1.-The statute, by forbidding the SALE
Of railway and steamship tickets, recog-
nizes such tickets as chattel property,
and as articles which have been the
subject of commercial transactions by
barter and sale. In assuming to destroy
the value of such chattels as articles of
commerce, the statute must be justified,
if ut all. as IN exercise of the police pow
CT. That power has never been allowed
to ACHIEVE the destruction of private
property, unless its exercise was d.
htrlth or morals. The various statut.s
of Iowa and Kansas, prohibiting the man.
ufccture of Intoxicating beverages, have
been upheld on that ground y consti-
tutional measures for the exercise Of
the police power.
'"TLis statute does not declare the
selling of transportation tickets to be a
business dangerous to health or morals.
Nor could such a decision be sustained.
Tie sale of such chattels is per sc innd-'
cent. The legislation under which the
pending proposition is based aims at tho
complete prohibition of such sales and
the suppression of traffic III t%ransporta-
ton tickets except by u privileged class,
the persons designated by the owners OF
railways and steamships and licensed
by the state government pursuant to
such designation. This favoritism is re-
pugnant to the entire scope and spirit
of u state constitution. The provision
for the issuance of a license restricting
the issuance to persons designated by the
owners of any railroad or steamboat IS
an unconstitutional delegation of the IL
censing power.
"VVhile the statute under consideration
is a conspicuous example of class legls-
lation, it could not be successfully inl-
peached upon that ground: if its enact
ment by the legislative authority OF the
ste t. were not in direct conflict with that
prior and supreme expression of the SOW
ereign will of a free people which is eni-
bodied in the stete constitution.
'"That instrument declares that mo per-
sou = shall be de-
pri,ed of life, liberty or property without
due process of law
''Tlle statute, which is now under re-
view, violates that constitutional provis-
len. !,
."This statute, by creating a spe,ial
claxs of citizens to whom Slone licenses
may be issued, violates section D OF
article 4 of the state constitution N'hlcn
declares the legislature shall pass no
law granting to any corporation or ma,
v:dual any special or exclusive privilege.
ut may be that some sections or tDIs
statute are not justly open to the op-
lection that they are unconstitutional. nnt
it is evident that the entire scope, OF tue
act is controlled by the unconstitutional
provisions, and the latter are SO inter-
woven with tho other provisions OF me
act that no chirurgical art knoWn "