The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1901-10-04
AGAINST TICKET sCALPING.
Renewed Efforts to BE Made by the
Leading Railroads.

PHILADELPHIA. oct. 1T is So sell
dom that the railroads are called upon to
prosecute sCalpers iu New Jersey that the
case tried at Cape May. Wednesday be
fore Judge voorhees,. in which a fine of
81 ana costs Of prosecution were impos-
ed upon each of two defendants. attract
ed more than usual interest OF particU-
AR Importance is the fact that traffic in
railroad tickets By other than authorized
persons is Illegal under the New Jersey
statute. As a misdemeauOr. in the sense
Of being a fraud upon travellers. l. is in
dictabIe. and in the event Of the convic-
ton Of the accused the court has the dis
erection of sending the guilty ones to
States prison or imposing "A fine or both
New Jersey and Pennsylvania are prac-
ticaIIy the only States where ticket scalp
ing has been regarded by statute as lie
gal In consequence, the railroads OF
these two States have comparatively lit
Tie difficulty with ''scalpers.' and the
many evils accompanying this trade of
business are not as conspicoUs as In most
other States
During last summer the question Of
ticket scalping was serious
one in many States. in par
ticular in those cities where there were
large gatherings from distant points. AT
Buffalo the railroads attempted to re-
strain the sCaipers by taking the question
TO court. on the ground that railroad
tickets constituted "a contract with the
individual purchasers. the Lacka wanna
Railroad procured an injunction against
Sixty-One scalpers In Buffalo who were
dealing in special Pan-Amerlcan Far
tickets
The roads took the stand that it was a
violation Of a contract for buyers To sell
their tickets 70 brokers. This view
was held by Judge Hazel, Of the
United States Circuit Court. but. Gu
riousiy enough, the court refused to make
the Injunction permanent. on the ground
that the LaCka wanna Is a member or tho
Trunk Line Association, known as the
pool which combines 10 tx rates in
violation Of the Interstate Commerce act
and the various anti-pOoliug lawS-a yio-
l3tiun because such an agreement by the
roads prevents competition between them
Therefore. it Is held that contracts with
. purchasers based upon another contract
Itself illegal. are void. and the roads are
not entitled 70 redress In an equity court
This is the third unsuccessful effort on
the part of the roads to stop scalpIuE In
New York state within recent years
Both the law o. 1895 and that Of 1880. pass
ed 10 prevent brokers dealing I'm railroad
tickets were declared unconstitutional
Another effort will boz made at the next
meeting OF the legislature TO suppress
. SgIluIUg in New York 10y statute
In Ohio and Indiana. as well as I'm New
York. the railroads attempted 20 restrain
the scalpgrs. In the former state the
Pennsylvania. Nickel Plate. lake Shore.
F.riD. Big Four. and Baltimore and Ohio
I cumuauits obtained temporary iljUuC-
tDus 10 prevent the brokers from dealing
/ iu excursion tickets issued ON account OF
The Grand Army OF the Republic En-
campmeut at Cleveland The Psursylva-
mia and Big Four Companies took the
same means on the occasion of the odd
Fellows meeting at Indianapolis
There is a suspicion H. some quarters
Z that five railroads a. least are secretly
/ encouraging the brokers in New York. by
paying commissions 90 them What fuuu-
/ datI0u there h. for this. In fact. cannot be
positively learned. but three OF them are
said To- be iu the joint passenger com
mittse territory and two or three in the
territory of the Western Passenger As
. soCiariCu-
When tho presidents agreement abol-
/ i-Llug commissions was first adopted
many believed that Dc meant the complete
Uipiug out Of the Scalpers. but this result
I DO is stated that more tickets are being
sold by the brokers than by the railroad
4 agents, particularly IT. New York All OF
/ which raises the question whether the
/ problem can really ~ met 3y iy2l-ia Ion
/ as long as some OF The roads fail 10 live
I uD to their agreement not 70 transact
! business with them
/ From the Pacific Coast comes an inter
/ Jstiug despatch on this SUBJECT IL 81 Us
I that the Southern Pacific is about 90 en-
. ticket brokers which may possibly solve
I the E,NgG question The plan Is simply
l 90 employ one Of the brokers TO buy in
all ticket that are presented or that can
{ be procured. but instead of selling them
| again b. Is Co turn them over To- the
{ company. for which he is 10 receive a
| commission. Brokerage offices. the report
l SAYS. are To- be established all along the
| line OF the Southern Pacific it is be
/ Iisy,d that this scheme VIII keep the low
/ ousIy cut into the trade Of the scslpers
/ as C. drive them out Of business.