The herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1893-1900, 1895-03-17
Governor Budd VetOes the Bill
on Legal Grounds
THERE is DISCRIMINATION
The Proposed Law Was far-Reaching
and Not Direct
Passenger Can Buy Ticket and Sell 1t,
But a Railroad Agent Is Liable
to Punishment

Sacramento, March 16.-The Governor
has vetoed the anti-scalpers bill He
says: .,e
| while this bill processes to be a regu.
iation of the selling and redeeming of
| transportation tickets, it goes far beyond
that. While it is claimed that it is an at
| tempt to regulate or prohibit the sale of
| it, III fact, prevents and prohibits the sale
| of tickets by individuals who have re-
ceved or purchased them lawfully and in
| good faith. Under the provisions
of this act a citizen purchasing a
| ticket with a bona .ide intention to travel
| ON the same, may sell the ticket to any
individual or corporation, and the law
thereby authorizes the purchase of such
ticket by such other person, yet the per-
son who thus purchases under authority
of law and for u valuable consideration
the ticket, he becomes a criminal when
he sells or gives to another the property
and the right he has procured under d.
rect authority of the act
Again, the minimum punishment
prescribed, $500, should a man steal u rail-
road ticket of any value under fifty dol
lars, he is by the law punishable for COM
uniting a misdemeanor. There is for the
offense of stealing the ticket, if misde-
meanor, no fixed minimum penalty, and
the maximum penalty would be a fine OF
5000 and six months imprisonment, so
that the man stealing a ticket of
the value of less than fifty dollars
with intent to deprive the owner
thereof, of his property therein; could
be punished by fine not to exceed $500
or by imprisonment not to exceed, six
months, or both, and might be fined by
the court in the sum of one dollar, or
even less, yet man purchasing a railroad
ticket from Oakland to San Francisco for
ten cents or ticket from San Francisco
IN Snp 10 lNx-
$3.50 may sell the ticket or give it to
to friend, but if the per-
son to whom he sold or
gave the ticket should sell or give it away
honestly without any criminal intent he
would become criminal and be liable to
punishment by fine of not less than $500
and the court would have no power to
impose a less punishment upon him.
Why man selling railroad ticket,
because it is railroad ticket,
should be thus severely punished,
While a man who steals the
property OF private individual of many
times the value of railroad ticket may
be fined but a small amount 4 is some
thing beyond my comprehension. To
sell railroad ticket of the value OF 10
cents a second time makes man a
criminal under this act with no less a
penalty attached than a fine of 5000, and
yet a person may steal from poor man
siil liC lds-sO lOLS ~ NC ulltltT lily
dollars i'll value-and the penalty thereof
is fine of any sum less than $500 and
imprisonment not to exceed six months
For no other reason than this, the law
should not be enacted. Beyond this there
are other objections, all OF which it is
needless to state.
Under section one of the act it is pro-
vided that it shall be the d ties of owners,
Iessees, ETC., of transpor alton companies,
as stated in the bill, to provide such an
agent who may be authorized to sell
tickets or other documentary evidence of
the right to travel upon such railroads,
steamboat, or other conveyance with
certificate, etc.
IF tn bill could have interstate opera
ton, and even though it may not have
such operation, if it became law the
meaning of the little word 'such' would
be so broad as to allow any transportation
company to prevent any other transpor-
tation company having connections with
it, from selling any tickets through the
connecting lines without the authority
of the owner of each and every such line.
In other words, railroad company
owning line running from San Francisco
to Martinez or Stockton, connecting with
a line of another company running from
Stockton to Tulare, and that of another
company owning line running from
Tulare to Los Angeles, might be pre-
vented by each and every one of the COM
panies, whether under a lease or other
wise, from selling any tickets except
through an agent of such other compa-
MES. The agent OF a company might
refuse to give to the agent of COM
pany B the right to sell tickets over COM
pany AS line and it would be so author
lied to refuse by this act, and thereby
system either state or Interstate of re.
quiring owners of railroads for the priv
iege of thus selling through connecting
tickets would be established. Whether this
was contemplated or not it would work
great hardship to the people and to con-
Meeting transportation lines. The Legis-
lature will observe that there is no regula-
ton of the selling of tickets by scalpers,
and while seal pers are whether
unjustly or not-in transacting their bust
ness, the drag net of the proposed law
reaches far beyond them. Ii they forgo
tickets or allow them to be changed, there
are laws to punish them. If they deal in
tickets as they ought not to do, and these
tickets cannot be traced, a law regulating
or even prohi biting the business of scalp
ers might be passed. We prohibit,
license or regulate the business
of selling liquors but we do not
usually prohibit, license or regulate the
giving of liquors to IA man by his friends.
There is a vast difference between an act
to regulate or prohibit business as such
and an act reaching to an individual in
the exercise of his rightful use of property
belonging to himself"