The Roanoke daily times. (Roanoke, Va.) 1895-1897, 1896-06-24
MILEAGE TICKETS.

Inc decision the other day of an Ohio
court To the effect that a railroad COM
pany has no right to confiscate a mileage
ticket found in the hands of another than
the one To whom the company sold if
may prove Il serious obstacle in the svs-
teihatic effort which the railroad compa-
mes are making to limit narrowly the
use OF mileage tickets The court init
mated that the company. while it might
refuse to carry II third party on such a
ticket, had absolutely no right to touch
or To take, since the title and ownership
OF II passed to the purchaser when he
pad his money for it; he still owned il.
and he might use it. although the compa-
ny might refuse To accept it from the
hands of any other person This will
strike most people as common sense.
especially rs the general rule il hat what
one may buy he may again sell The de
clsloh however, does not 90 To this ex-
tent, but only holds that II mileage ticket
belongs To the man who buys it and that
the company has no right To it whatever
after it has sold it. There will be little
public sympathy with the railroad com
rnles in their recent war on the ticket
brokers' and that war may he pushed tn
such an extent as to give fresh impetus to
IL popular agitation for lower or even Il
--ceht per mile rate of passenger fare
w hllc II may he true technically that the
ofier of mileage tickets is general and
open To all who comply with the condi-
tons, still practically the conditions are
such that only II fraction of the travelling
public can or will comply with them is
not composed of those who most need
concessions In South Dakota the aver
age passenger is forced under the terms
which the mileage tickets are offered by
A
those who are more fortunate by the use
OF such tickets can travel for , cents Il
mile. East of the Missouri river the dis
examination is not so great, but it is still
very great The only possible condition
on which the ticket broker can do bust
ness IS that he saves money for the pub
Tic This Is exactly what he does. and
so long rs he does this il will he mighty
hard for the railroad companies to put
him in the light of IL public enemy or to
gain public sympathy 10y treating him as
such. The railroad companies have it
i'll their power to drive him out of exist
cnce by the simple eXpedicnt of abolish
ing all discrimination in fares, nv put
ing the public without exception on
the same basis. so long as they fail tn
do so, ana by failing To put it in the
power of the broker To save money for
tinuc in business in one way or another.
although occasionally the companies may
make war on him The broker first
ilourished chiefly rs an adjunct Of the
railroads in their competitions and wars
among themselves They gave him life
and II strong standing. And 50 long as
the public merely dealt with the compa
MES through him they had little com
plant against him. but often really cod
died and favored him. But when ticket
brokerage was systematized and put ON
as strong and sound Il basis rs banking,
with which the public could deal in per-
feet security, ana when it's life came To
rest upon that margin which il could
save the travelling public, then il began
to he regarded by the railroads AZ their
enemy In this situation they will be
foolish to expect the public to be ,ympa-
thetically impressed With the reasons
with which they assume to characterize
the ticket brokers as a public enemy -
SIOUX City Journal