New-York tribune., 1918-07-07

ton which it may gain by adventitious
means, irrespective of its merits to
the critical, gives greater than box
office values to a seat. The public
is inclined to flock to few of the
very best attractions, ignoring those
which are almost as good. Thus a
play that is 5 per cent better than
another may get so per cent more
patronage. The speculator s useful
in taxing this mass tendency on the
part of the public, and hence in dis
tributing patronage more equitably
among the various theatres.
UD The speculator, as a rule, has a
fixed clientele, to many of whom he eX-
tends credit, collecting at the end of the
month for all the seats they have pur-
chased from him. This is a great con-
venience to the business man and his
family, who may order seats by tele
phone and have them charged. 1t is
impracticable for a theatre to extend
credit to its patrons, as no patron will
come often enough to make it worth
while to run an open account, and the
business man would not wish TO run
open accounts with thirty or forty the
atres. A large part Of the SPECTATORS
business is OF this sort, and it is one of
MS main strongholds.
This function might be performed by
the telephone company, charging seats
ordered on the monthly telephone bill
if its charter would permit it. Since
the charge patrons of the speculator
are willing to pay more for seats than
cash patrons at the box Office, that
value in a ticket must be recognized
until it is. destroyed by law.
The speculator is useful, also, in ad-
vising his patrons of the merit of the
various attractions and in selecting the
Kinds of plays that he knows from their
tastes will please them. The speculator
even goes out of town to see the open
ings of new plays, and his verdict often
deters manager from bringing a poor
play into New York.
The foregoing relates to tickets sold
at premium, but the box Office patron
objects to Cut-rate tickets also. This is
mistaken point of view, because every
theatre except at the height of the run
has number of unsold seats, which go
to waste unless sold at cut rates. Cut
rate tickets are equivalent to the proc
csS known in the manufacturing indus
tries as dumping" or Seconds" After
all the standard priced articles are sold
that there is a market for the overpro-
duction of the factory is sold at any
price obtalnable. The product is usu-
ally slightly inferior or without the
should not object to dumping" be-
cause the patrons who buy the
dumped" tickets could not afford to
pay standard prices, and the seats
would go to waste and the theatre be
out whatever amount is realized The
theatre could not afford to run with all
its seats at dumped" prices, yet the in
come from the dumped" tickets is
often the whole profit Of the theatre,
which would otherwise often have to
close temporarily just as the dumped"
products of factory often supply the
margin between profit and loss in on
GRAFTON. Eventually such profits enable
the standard price to be reduced. Thus.
the standard price purchaser really
Dement'S from what seems to be q dis
crlmnatlon against him.
mus 1t happens that the condition
objected to, Of three patrons sitting in
ne same row, each having paid djf
ierent price for his seat, is really not
objectionable, since each pays the price
men the seat is worth to him. consid-
ring MS fnanclal standing, his CON
Yenlepce and the value he gets out of
the purchase.
theatres are accused of being in
league with the spectators. but thew
are IN reality victims of speculation in
tne sense that the extra values in the
tickets are largely absorbed bv the
speculator as his profit for rendering
the patron the service which the thea
ire cannot render. A theatre TO com
pete with spectators would have to
nave scores of box Offices about the
CITY. cooperative box offices would lead
TO dlsagreements, and the public would
not rely on the judgment of those in
charge as it does upon that of the un-
prcJudlced SOeculator
In the long run the public can only
expect to receive, and the producers
can only obtain, value for value. Thea
tres are expensive structures, COM
mandlng high rentals and involving the
turnover of large amounts of CAPITAL
insurance, taxes, depreciation and cost
Of operation are high and risks of loss
great. Empty seats. therefore. are an
economic loss which sooner or later
the. public shoulders Any process
therefore, such as ticket speculation
which assists in filling theatres, no
matter what the price of the seats, pro-
vldes more entertainment, ito the pub
lie at lower cost, and is therefore a
good thing. That is to say, ticket spec-
ulatlon enables the whole public to re-
celve amusement for the whole sum
expended by it, with a more complete
utilization of all the theatre facilities
than the system of the standard scale
strictly maintained. Ticket spectators
are therefore performing useful func-
ton, and their business should not he
abolished EDWIN HOPKINS,
oo4 PaiaSe Theatre Building.