The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1897-01-14
ROUGH on SCALPERS.


| Following is the full text of the obser'
| vations of the interstate commerce COM
mission anent ticket brokers:
| In our last annual report we took oc'
casiOn to comment with some severity
| upon the unlawful practices of cOnsid-
| cradle class of persons who engage in the
unauthorized sale of passenger tickets
| and who are commonly referred to by the
expressive name of 'scalpers." What
was then said is in part as follows:
I'VE deem it special duty to call your
attention to the persistent survival and
continued increase of the illegitimate bus
mess known as ticket brokerage or scalp
ing So far from showing any signs of
diminutiOn, it appears to be steadily en-
larging in scope and volume. 1t is i'm
possible to give any reliable estimate of
the number of persons who took advant-
age of this means of procuring unlawful
transportation, but it is evident that a
considera bic percentage of railroad pas
senger travel is accomplished through the
medium of tickets bought at reduced rates
of so called brokers. In every city and in
many of the smaller towns, offices are to
be found whose proprietOrs sell railroad
tickets to very many points at less than
the published tariffs. The streets are
placarded with alluring advertisements,
incoming and outgoing travellers are open
ly solicited. while in hotels and other pub
lie places and not infrequently in regular
railroad stations. the runners and agents
of these clandestine dealers invoke par
tclpation in transportation bargains.
which upon their face-tO give them no
harsher term-are an obvious evasion of
the law"
The disregard of law to which we thus
referred has apparently continued during
the current year and assumed still greater
and more serious propositions. The lille
climate traffic has become a positive
scandal and decisive measures should be
taken to put an end to these illegal trans
actions. The remedy for this evil is
easily found. A simple enactment would
be sufficient in our judgment, to prevent
these abuses and effectually check this
species of misconduct We therefore
recommend that it be made a penal of
iense Tor any person to engage in the
business of selling interstate passenger
tickets unless he is an authorized agent
of the carrier, duly constituted such by
written appointment; and that every such
person be required under appropriate
penalty to expose in his place of business
certificate of his authority.
we also call attention to the fact that
extensive frauds upon the public are &C.
complished by the printing and sale of
counterfeit tickets. 1t has come to our
knowledge that hundreds of innocent per
sons have been victimized by the bur
chase of spurious tickets from those
whose identity could not be clearly es-
tabiished after the fraud was discovered,
The actual money loss thus resulting TO
unsuspecting travellers amounts to a CON
siderable sum, while the distress and an
noyance to which innocent and often
needy persons have been subjected be-
cause they have been induced to purchase
these sham tickets can be easier imagin-
cd than described 1t is a defect in tho
federal statutes that the counterfeitno
of railroad tickets is not made a criminal
ottenSe and we earnestly recommend tha
correction of this defect by an appropri.
ate enactment.