The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-03-17

not be punished by fine not to exceed $500
nor by imprisonment to exceed six months, or
BOTH and might be fined by the court in the
sum OF 81 or even less. Yet man purchasing
a railroad ticket from Oakland to San Francisco
for IL cents, or ticket from San Francisco TO
Sacramento by way of Stockton for $3 30, may
sell the ticket or give it to a friend, but If the
person to whom he sold or gave the ticket
should sell or give it away, honestly and with
out any criminal intent he would become
criminal and be liable tie punishment by fine
of not less than 5000, and the court would
have no power to impose less punishment
upon him.
Why man selling railroad ticket, because
it is railroad ticket should thus be severely
punished, while the man who steals the prop
erty of a private individual of many times the
value OF railroad ticket may be fined but
small amount, is something beyond my COM
prehension To sell railroad ticket of the
value of 10 cents a second time makes man a
criminal under this act, with no less penalty
attached than fine of 5000, and yet person
may steal from poor man all he has so long
as 1t be under $50 in value, and the penalty
therefor is a fine in 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.
l.
it shall be the duty of owners, lessees, etc, OF
transportation companies, as stated in the bill,
to provide each agent who may be authorized
to sell tickets or other documentary evidence
of the right to travel upon ''such railroad
steamboat or other conveyance" with certifi-
cate, etc.
Ii this bill could have interstate operation
and even though it may not have such opera
ton if it became law, the meaning of the
~ ,,aI,3I 10
allow any transportation company to prevent
any other transportation company having con-
nections 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, a railroad company
owning line running from San Francisco TO
Martinez or Stockton connecting with line
OF another company running from Stockton to
Tulare, and that OF another company owning
line running from Tulare to Los Angeles might
be prevented by each and every one of these
companies, whether under lease or other
wise, from selling any tickets except through
an agent of such other companies. The agent
of company "A' might refuse TO give to the
agent OF company OBJ the right TO sell tickets
over company CAPS" line, and it would be so
authorized to refuse by this act and thereby
system, either State or interstate OF requiring
owners of connecting lines of railroads to pay
owners of other lines of railroads for the priyi-
lege OF thus selling through connecting tickets
would be established. Whether this was con-
templated or not, it would work great hard
ship TO the people and to connecting trans
portation lines.
The Legislature will observe that there is no
regulation OF the sale of tickets by nscalpers,"
and while "scalpers' are denounced, whether
unjustly or not, in transacting their business
the dragnet of the law proposed reaches far be-
yond them. Ii they forge tickets, or allow
them TO be changed, there are criminal laws to
punish them. If they deal in tickets as they
ought not to do, and these tickets cannot now
be traced, a law regulating or even prohibiting
the business of "scalpers' 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 a
man by his friends. There is vast difference
between an act to regulate or prohibit a bust
ness as such and an act reaching to an indi-
vidual in the exercise of his rightful use of
property belonging to himself.