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 Municipal Reference Bulletin No. 6 
 
 SPECULATION or SCALPING 
 IN AMUSEMENT TICKETS 
 
 ANALYSIS OF MUNICIPAL ORDINANCES 
 
 PROHIBITING OR REGULATING 
 
 THE SALE OF TICKETS OF ADMISSION 
 
 AT ADVANCED PRICES 
 
 PREPARED AT THE REQUEST OF 
 
 ALDERMAN WILLIS 0. NANCE 
 
 MEMBER OF THE CHICAGO CITY COUNCIL 
 
 MUNICIPAL REFERENCE LIBRARY 
 CHICAGO PUBLIC LIBRARY 
 
 1006 CITY HALL 
 
 MAY, 19 16 
 
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 Municipal Reference Bulletin No. 5 
 
 SPECULATION OR SCALPING 
 IN AMUSEMENT TICKETS 
 
 ANALYSIS OF MUNICIPAL ORDINANCES 
 
 PROHIBITING OR REGULATING 
 
 THE SALE OF TICKETS OF ADMISSION 
 
 AT ADVANCED PRICES 
 
 PREPARED AT THE REQUEST OF 
 ALDERMAN WILLIS 0. NANCE 
 
 MEMBER or THE CHICAGO CITY COUNCIL 
 
 MUNICIPAL REFERENCE LIBRARY 
 CHICAGO PUBLIC LIBRARY 
 
 1005 CITY HALL 
 
 MAY, 19 15
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 Page 
 
 Introduction 5 
 
 General summary of municipal legislation 6-9 
 
 Classes of amusements considered 6 
 
 Ordinances of Class 1 6 
 
 Ordinances of Class II 6-7 
 
 Ordinances of Class III 7 
 
 Ordinances of Class IV 7~8 
 
 Ordinances of Class V 8-9 
 
 Conclusions 9 
 
 Digest or text of laws and ordinances in various cities 10-20 
 
 Akron, Ohio , 10 
 
 Atlanta, Ga 10 
 
 Baltimore, Md 10 
 
 Chicago, 111 10-12 
 
 Cincinnati, Ohio 13 
 
 Cleveland, Ohio 13 
 
 Dayton, Ohio 14 
 
 Denver, Colo 14 
 
 Detroit, Mich 14 
 
 Kansas City, Mo 14 
 
 Louisville, Ky 15 
 
 New Haven, Conn 15 
 
 New York City 15-19 
 
 Norfolk, Va 19 
 
 Philadelphia, Pa 19 
 
 Pittsburgh, Pa 19-20 
 
 Portland, Ore 20
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 The information contained herein is compiled from the laws and ordinances 
 of cities in the United States on file in the Municipal Reference Library and 
 from replies received to correspondence carried on with certain city officials. 
 The laws and ordinances of those cities having a population of over 50.000 
 relating to speculation in amusement tickets have been examined or inquired 
 into. Special attention, however, has been given to the laws and ordinances 
 of cities of the first and second class. There are at present twenty cities in 
 these two groups, having a population of 300,000 and over. Investigation re- 
 veals that smaller cities are not, as a rule, subject to the ticket speculating 
 evil, excepting under unusual conditions, as in the event where a theatrical 
 performance or other mode of amusement has a great vogue and popularity. 
 In consequence, the necessity for special legislation designed to mitigate or 
 abolish the evil has not been felt in a large number of municipalities. The 
 ordinances at present upon the municipal statute books clearly demonstrate 
 that no city has adopted an ordinance which embodies the uniform experience 
 of all, to the extent that such experience may be applied to local conditions. 
 The aimless manner in which the ordinances in effect at present have been 
 enacted is shown l)y their variance from each other. The ordinances adopted 
 by the different cities, however, may be divided into five general classes, viz.: 
 
 1. Ordinances prohibiting the sale in any manner of amuse- 
 ment tickets at any other place than at the box ofHce. 
 
 2. Ordinances prohibiting ticket scalping and speculation on 
 the public streets or near the entrances of theatres. 
 
 3. Ordinances prohibiting the making of fraudulent reserva- 
 tions of seats. 
 
 4. Ordinances licensing speculators, brokers and scalpers in 
 theatre and amusement tickets. 
 
 5. Ordinances prohibiting the owners, proprietors and manag- 
 ers of theatres and other places of amusement from disposing of 
 tickets of admission to speculators, brokers and scalpers engaged 
 in the business of selling such tickets at an advanced price.
 
 GENERAL SUMMARY OF MUNICIPAL LEGISLATION 
 
 CLASSES OF AMUSEMENTS CONSIDERED. 
 
 The cities having ordinances prohibiting speculation in amusement tickets, 
 as a rule, provide against speculation in tickets of admission to theatres and 
 other licensed places of public amusement. Some cities specifically prohibit 
 speculation in tickets for dramatic, theatrical, operatic, musical, baseball, foot- 
 ball, athletic or any other public performance, exhibition or entertainment. In 
 Cincinnati trafficking in tickets for public school entertainments. lecture courses, 
 and lectures on historic, literary or scientific subjects is not inhibited by the 
 provisions of the ordinance, while the Pittsburgh ordinance fails to prohibit 
 the sale at an advanced price of tickets of admission to entertainments, the 
 proceeds of which are to be devoted to charitable or benevolent purposes. 
 
 ORDINANCES OF CLASS I. 
 General Regulations. 
 
 Ordinances in Class I prohibit the sale of tickets of admission to theatrical 
 performances and other amusements by any person or corporation at any 
 other place within the corporate limits than at the box or ticket offices or other 
 usual place of selling such tickets of admission. 
 
 Cleveland, Denver and Dayton make it unlawful to engage in the business 
 of selling tickets of admission to theatrical performances and other places of 
 amusement at a price higher than that advertised or printed on the ticket. 
 New Haven and Pittsburgh, in addition to prohibiting speculation in tickets of 
 admission to theatrical performances, forbid the sale, at an advanced price, of 
 tickets of admission to baseball, football and other athletic sports and contests. 
 Penalty for Violation. 
 
 The Cleveland and Dayton ordinances provide a maximum fine of $50.00 
 and the costs of prosecution. Denver subjects the offender to a fine of not 
 less than $25.00 nor more than $200 for each ofTense. In New Haven the 
 sale of each ticket in violation of the provisions of the ordinance is made a 
 separate and distinct offense, subject to a fine of not less than $10.00 nor more 
 than $100. Pittsburgh provides a minimum of $10.00 and a maximum of 
 $50.00 as a penalty. 
 
 ORDINANCES OF CLASS IL 
 General Regulations. 
 
 Municipal ordinances of this class make it unlawful for any person or 
 corporation to engage in the business of selling amusement tickets at increased 
 prices in or upon the public streets, sidewalks, alleys, parks and other public 
 ground. 
 
 Philadelphia, Baltimore, Denver, Detroit and New Haven have ordinances 
 of this character. New York, Chicago and Pittsburgh, besides making it 
 illegal to sell amusement tickets at advanced prices on the public streets and 
 grounds, prohibit such sales in front or about the premises of any theatre, 
 concert hall, circus or other place of amusement. New York further declares 
 it an offense to solicit any person by signs, circulars or other means to pur- 
 chase a ticket of the above description. 
 Penalty for Violation. 
 
 The penalty for the violation of the Denver ordinance in this class is similar 
 to that provided for the violation of its ordinance in Class I, as is also the case 
 in Pittsburgh and New Haven. The New York and Baltimore ordinances fix 
 a maximum fine of $10.00 for every violation of the ordinance in Class II, and 
 in the former city imprisonment for a term of ten days, in default of payment, 
 is provided. Notwithstanding that the New York City ordinance is strictly 
 enforced and arrests are frequently made by the Police Department, there are 
 still a number of individuals engaged in the ticket speculation business, which 
 they carry on in a manner designed to evade the officers of the law. The 
 devious methods followed by the scalpers and speculators in evading the 
 ordinance are shown in a communication received from Inspector John F. 
 Dwyer, in charge of the Fourth Police District in New York City, which is 
 known as the theatre district. 
 
 Inspector Dwyer, in response to an inquiry regarding the efficiency of 
 the New York ordinance in al)olishing or mitigating the evil of speculation in 
 theatre and amusement tickets, states: "Despite the ordinance, there is con- 
 siderable unlawful speculation in tickets, that is. selling or soliciting their sale 
 
 6
 
 upon the public streets; of course, the nuisance has been much abated. Ticket 
 speculators now beat the ordinance in this way: the speculator hires the priv- 
 ilege of transacting his business in some little store adjacent to the place of 
 amusement of which he has tickets for sale. He has runners on the outside, 
 who, when they see persons turned away from the box office, say to such per- 
 sons, "do you want to buy tickets for tonight's performance at this theatre? 
 If you do, I know where you can buy them," and then directs the person 
 desiring to purchase tickets to tlie little store or other location where the 
 ticket speculator has the tickets. The charge of soliciting the sale of tickets 
 in violation of the ordinance, based on this conversation, would not hold in 
 court, the runner merely furnishing information. 
 
 : Co-operation of the theatres with the police, in my opinion, would elim- 
 inate the evil entirely, because it would make the business so unprofitable 
 that the ticket speculator would abandon it. We have an arrangement with the 
 Palace theatre management whereby, if we notify the doorkeepers of the 
 theatre that the holder of certain of their tickets bought them from a ticket 
 speculator, the ticket will not be honored at the door of the theatre. In work- 
 ing this arrangement, we station one or two plain clothes men outside the 
 store or other location where the speculator and his runners are operating. 
 If a person is seen negotiating with the speculator he is notified that any 
 tickets he may purcliase will not be honored at the door of the theatre. In 
 most cases advice of this kind from the police frightens oflF the intending pur- 
 chaser. Although on assurance from the speculator that the tickets are good, 
 and that they will be honored at the door of the theatre, some people will 
 buy, in which case they are followed to the theatre by the plain clothes men, 
 and the doorkeeper notified, and admission is then refused on the tickets 
 bought in this manner. 
 
 "The present ordinance, while not entirely effective is, to a considerable 
 extent, al)le to abate the nuisance when aggressively enforced by the police." 
 
 The Philadelphia or«iinancc renders the offender subject to a fine of $50.00 
 and imi)risonment not exceeding tliree months. In Detroit a violation of the 
 provisions of the ordinance is punishable by a fine not exceeding one hundred 
 dollars and costs, and in the imposition of the fine the court may also sentence 
 the offender to imprisonment in the House of Correction for a period not 
 exceeding six months. Any person violating the provisions of the Chicago 
 ordinance is subject to a fine of not less than $5.00 nor more than $50.00 for 
 each offense. 
 
 ORDINANCES OF CLASS III. 
 General Regtilations. 
 
 Ordinances in this class prohibit the reservation of any seats or areas in 
 theatres and other places of amusement unless there has been a bona fide 
 sale of a seat or seats within the reserved area. 
 
 Akron and Dayton have an ordinance of this nature. Cincinnati has an 
 ordinance making it unlawful for any theatre and other place of amusement, 
 after opening "for the reception and entertainment of persons attending," to 
 sell or dispose of tickets of admission for the same so as to reserve particular 
 seats to any indivifluals or discriminate in the sale of tickets or seats in any 
 manner. 
 
 Penalty for Violation. 
 
 Akron provides a maximum penalty of $50.00 for the violation of the or- 
 dinance, Dayton the sum of $10.00, and Cincinnati a fine of not less than $5.00 
 nor more than $50.00 for such violation, each seat or ticket disposed of con- 
 trarj- to the provisions of the ordinance being considered a separate offense. 
 
 ORDINANCES OF CLASS IV. 
 General Regulations. 
 
 In a number of cities an attempt has been made to abolish or abate specu- 
 lation in tickets of admission to places of amusement by licensing persons 
 who, as brokers, dispose of or purchase the same for other persons. 
 
 In Atlanta brokers and speculators in amusement tickets are required to 
 pay a license fee of $500 per annum. In Birmingham the license fee is $100.00 
 a year, while in Cincinnati the annual sum required to be paid to the city 
 auditor for a license is $1,000. The Portland (Oregon) ordinance requires
 
 ticket agents, brokers, scalpers, messengers and others engaged in the busi- 
 ness of buying or selling theatre tickets for profit to pay a quarterly license 
 fee of $100.00. General ticket agents and theatres selling tickets at the box 
 offices, doors or business offices of theatres are exempted from the provisions 
 of the Portland ordinance. 
 
 The annual license rate in Louisville and Norfolk is $50.00 a year. In Kan- 
 sas City (Mo.) speculators are licensed and required to pay the city a fee of 
 $50.00 per month. 
 
 An ordinance licensing and regulating ticket speculators was introduced 
 in the New York Board of Aldermen on February 1, 1910, and referred to 
 the Committee on Laws and Legislation. Among other provisions, the pro- 
 posed ordinance fixed a license fee of $500 for the first year and $250 
 for each annual renewal of the license. Each applicant for a license was 
 required to give a bond to the city in the sum of $2,000 as surety for the faith- 
 ful observance of the terms of the ordinance, such bond to be forfeited in case 
 of violation. 
 
 After a number of hearings the Board of Aldermen, on February 21, 1911, 
 upon the recommendation of the Committee on Laws and Legislation, voted 
 to place the proposed ordinance on file. 
 
 On January 14, 1915, a bill was introduced in the Senate of the State of 
 New York licensing the business of selling tickets for theatres and places of 
 public amusement in cities of over one million inhabitants. It is proposed in the 
 bill to license any person or corporation selling or purchasing tickets of admis- 
 sion for other persons, to theatres or places of public amusement. The bill does 
 not, however, apply to the sale of tickets at the box offices located on the 
 premises of licensed places of public amusement. It is required that all 
 licensees pay an annual license fee of $250 for each theatre and place of 
 amusement for which tickets are sold. The bill is now pending before the 
 Committee on the Judiciary of the New York State Senate. 
 
 Penalty for Violation, 
 
 Any person engaged in business in the City of Atlanta as a ticket specu- 
 lator, without having procured a license, is subject, upon conviction, to a fine 
 of not less than $100 and imprisonment of not less than thirty days for each 
 offense, the Mayor, however, in his discretion, having the power to remit the 
 penalty of imprisonment. 
 
 The Cincinnati ordinance renders the offender liable to a fine of not more 
 than $500 nor less than $50.00, or of imprisonment for a period not in excess 
 of six months, or to both fine and imprisonment. 
 
 In Kansas City, Louisville and Norfolk the ordinances licensing amuse- 
 ment ticket brokers and speculators are part of the general license or revenue 
 ordinances of each city. Kansas City fixes a maximum penalty of $500 and 
 not less than $10.00, and Louisville a sum of not more than $100 and less than 
 $5.00 for every violation of the municipal ordinance. 
 
 The ordinance licensing and regulating ticket speculators introduced into 
 the New York Board of Aldermen, February 1, 1910, and later placed on file, 
 provided that any licensee violating the terms of the ordinance was subject to 
 the revocation of his license and the forfeiture of his bond in the sum of 
 $2,000. 
 
 The bill introduced in the New York Senate to license the business of 
 selling tickets for theatres and places of amusement makes it a misdemeanor 
 to violate any of its provisions and gives the Mayor of any city coming within 
 the scope of the proposed act the power to revoke the license of any ticket 
 seller on account of disorderly conduct and violation of the law. 
 
 ORDINANCES OF CLASS V. 
 General Regulations. 
 
 Ordinances in this class prohibit the owners, managers and proprietors of 
 theatres and other places of amusement from disposing of tickets of admission 
 to speculators and those engaged in the business of selling such tickets at an 
 advanced price. 
 
 Denver has an ordinance of the foregoing description in its municipal code. 
 An ordinance passed by the Chicago City Council provides that no amusement 
 license shall be granted unless the licensee expressly agrees to refrain from 
 disposing of tickets of admission to theatres, baseball parks and other places 
 of entertainment, to other persons for purposes of speculation, or permitting 
 
 8
 
 the sale of such tickets at advanced prices. On April 28, 1914, an ordinance 
 was passed by the Board of Aldermen of New York City providing that any 
 person or corporation making application to the Police Department for a 
 license to conduct a theatre or place of amusement shall subscribe to an agree- 
 ment printed on such application stipulating "that no ticket of admission 
 shall be issued, sold or offered for sale by or on behalf of the licensee, or by 
 or on behalf of any manager, agent, servant or employee of the licensee at a 
 price in excess to that designated thereon, or with the knowledge, purpose 
 or intention that such ticket is to be resold or offered for re-sale, and no 
 licensee and no manager, officer, agent or employee of any licensee shall 
 directly, or indirectly, receive any consideration of any nature whatsoever 
 upon the sale of any such ticket beyond or in excess of the price designated 
 thereon, or directly or indirectly enter into any arrangement, agreement or 
 understanding for the receipt of any such consideration." 
 
 The foregoing ordinance was reconsidered by a vote of the Board of 
 Aldermen on May 12th and referred back to the Committee on General Wel- 
 fare. The latter Committee submitted a report recommending that the or- 
 dinance be placed on file pending a report from the committee appointed by 
 the Mayor to investigate the subject of speculation in theatre tickets. 
 
 A bill was introduced in the .\ssembly of the New York State Legislature 
 on January 14, 1915, making it unlawful for any person or corporation owning 
 or managing any theatre or other place of amusement from selling or dispos- 
 ing of tickets of admission to the same at prices greater than the price printed 
 on each ticket. The proposed act was referred to the Committee on Codes, 
 where it is now pending. 
 
 A bill was introduced in the Senate of the New York .\sscnil)ly, on 
 February 25, 1914, and referred to the Committee on Codes, making it a mis- 
 demeanor for any person or corporation issuing tickets of admission to receive 
 or permit any other person to receive any sum in excess of the price printed 
 on each ticket of admission to any theatre or other place of amusement. 
 
 Penalty for Violation. 
 
 The Denver ordinance renders the offender subject to a fine of not less 
 than $25.00 nor more than $200. The Chicago ordinance provides that the 
 Mayor may revoke the license of any place of amusement for a failure upon 
 the part of the licensee to comply with its terms. The New York ordinance, 
 as passed April 28, 1914, prescribed that the license issued by the Police 
 Department under the terms of the ordinance be forfeited upon the conviction 
 of the licensee, his agents and empli)yees, of a violation of the agreement 
 quoted under the foregoing heading. Besides rendering the offender subject 
 to the revocation of his license, the ordinance provided that any person violat- 
 ing its provisions should be lial)le to a fine of $50.00 for each offense. 
 
 According to the proposed act introduced in the .\sseml)ly of the New 
 York State Legislature on January 14, 1915, the owner and manager of any 
 theatre or other place of amusement selling tickets of admission at a bonus 
 or at advanced prices, either on his own behalf or through an agent or broker, 
 shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and subject to a fine of not less than $50.00 
 nor more than $200, or by imprisonment of not less than thirty days nor more 
 than six months, or both. 
 
 CONCLUSIONS. 
 
 The general tendency of the municipal ordinances considered in the fore- 
 going summary may be stated, as follows: 
 
 1. To except speculation in tickets for public school enter- 
 tainments and lectures, or where the proceeds are to be devoted 
 to charitable or benevolent purposes. 
 
 2. To place the responsibility for the sale of amusement tick- 
 ets at an advanced price by speculators, brokers and scalpers upon 
 the owners, proprietors and managers of theatres and places of 
 amusement. 
 
 3. To place in the hands of the Mayor the power to revoke 
 the license of any owner, proprietor or manager of a theatre or 
 other place of amusement who disposes of tickets of admission at 
 advanced prices or is convicted of acting in collusion with ticket 
 speculators, brokers and scalpers. 
 
 9
 
 DIGEST OR TEXT OF LAWS AND ORDINANCES 
 
 PENDING OR IN EFFECT IN VARIOUS 
 
 CITIES OF THE UNITED STATES 
 
 Where a city has enacted or proposed conipreliensive legislation it is here- 
 with reproduced in full, otherwise only brief summaries are given. The popu- 
 lation as given for each city is that estimated by the United States Bureau of 
 the Census for July 1, 1914. 
 
 AKRON, OHIO. 
 
 (Population 80,291.) 
 
 Section 167. No proprietor, manager or employe or other person con- 
 nected w^ith any theatrical exhibition or other show shall place or cause to be 
 placed anj' card, article or designation in, about or upon any seat within the 
 room or enclosure where said theatrical exhibition or other show is given indi- 
 cating that the same has been reserved unless there has been a bona fide sale 
 of such seat. 
 
 Section 170. Whoever shall violate any provisions of this chapter shall 
 
 be fined not more than $50.00. 
 
 ATLANTA, GA. 
 
 (Population 179,292.) 
 
 It is provided in section 2,885 of the Code of 1910 that: 
 No person shall be permitted to speculate in tickets for theatrical or other 
 like performances, without first taking out a license from the City Clerk, 
 which license shall be $500 per annum. Any person violating this section 
 shall be punished, on conviction before the Recorder's Court, by a fine of not 
 less than $100 and costs, and imprisoned not less than thirty days for each 
 oflfense; but the Mayor shall have power, in his discretion, to remit the penalty 
 of imprisonment. 
 
 BALTIMORE, MD. 
 
 (Population 579,590.) 
 
 It is provided in section 93 of article 25 of the Baltimore City Code of 
 1906 that: 
 
 It shall not be lawful for any person or persons to sell, barter or exchange, 
 or offer for sale, barter or exchange, upon the public streets or highways, 
 tickets of admission to any theatre or circus. Any person or persons violating 
 the provisions of this section shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and, on 
 conviction, shall be punished by a fine of $10.00 for every such offense. 
 
 CHICAGO, ILL. 
 
 (Population 2,393,325.) 
 
 On March 18, 1907, the Chicago City Council passed an ordinance prohib- 
 iting the sale of theatre and other amusement tickets by speculators and scalp- 
 ers, the sale of tickets at a higher price than the price printed on the same, 
 and the sale of tickets of admission by the owners, managers and proprietors 
 of theatres and other places of amusement to any broker, speculator or scalper. 
 The following is the ordinance: 
 
 Section 1. That Article 2 of Chapter VI of the Revised Municipal Code 
 of Chicago of 1905, be and the same is hereby amended by striking therefrom 
 Section 121, and substituting therefor a section to be hereafter known as Sec- 
 tion 121, which said section shall read as follows: 
 
 "It shall be unlawful for any person or corporation to sell or to engage 
 in the business of selling, any ticket of admission to any theatrical, operatic 
 or musical entertainment, except at the regular ticket office or ticket offices 
 located upon the premises where such entertainment is to be given or held; 
 provided that nothing in this ordinance shall be held or construed to prohibit 
 the sale of tickets to entertainments, the proceeds of which are to be devoted 
 to charitable or benevolent purposes. 
 
 "It shall be unlawful for any. person or corporation to sell or to engage 
 in the business of selling at a premium or at a higher price than the price 
 printed thereon, any ticket of admission to any place of amusement, whether 
 
 10
 
 such selling be his or its regular business, or be engaged in occasionally or 
 incidentally in connection with some other business. 
 
 "No person or corporation conducting any place of amusement, or any 
 officer, agent, or employe thereof, shall directly or indirectly ofler to sell, sell, 
 consent to sell, or permit to be sold, any ticket of admission to any place of 
 amusement to any broker, speculator, scalper or other person, regularly, occa- 
 sionally, or incidentally engaged in the business of selling any such tickets of 
 admission for re-selling at an increased price above that printed thereon." 
 
 Section 2. This ordinance shall be in full force and effect from and after 
 its passage and due publication. 
 
 The supreme court of the State of Illinois later held the above ordinance 
 unconstitutional on the ground that it was an arbitrary and unreasonable inter- 
 ference with the rights of the individuals concerned. It was held that pur- 
 chasers of theatre tickets have no right to buy at any price excepting that 
 fixed by the holder of the ticket. In the words of the court "the manager may 
 fix the price arbitrarily, and may raise or lower it at his will. Having adver- 
 tised a performance he is not bound to give it, and having advertised a price 
 he is not bound to sell tickets at that price. The business of dealing in theatre 
 tickets is carried on to some extent, at least, and the right to do so and to con- 
 tract in regard to such tickets is a right in which those who use it are entitled 
 to be protected. Though the manager sells all his tickets at one price it may 
 be a valuable right to sell to the broker." From the language of the court, as 
 stated above, it may be said that the ordinance was declared unconstitutional 
 largely, if not solely, on the ground of its supposed interference with the indi- 
 vidual's right to contract, and that the interests of the public were not con- 
 sidered in due measure, if at all. 
 
 The following is an ordinance passed by the Chicago City Council June 
 3, 1912, and in effect at present: 
 
 Section 1. That Section 108 of the Chicago City Code of 1911 be and the 
 same is hereby amended by adding thereto the following, which is hereby des- 
 ignated as Section 108a: 
 
 "Section 108a. Provided, that the license, if granted, is ac- 
 cepted by the licensee or licensees upon the express condition that 
 he or they will neither give, grant nor permit to be given or 
 granted to any person or persons any options upon seats or tickets 
 in said theatre, baseball park or other place of amusement, or sell 
 to any person or persons any such seats or tickets with the intent 
 and for the purpose of speculating in such seats or tickets, or ac- 
 cept the return of unsold tickets, that he or they will not charge or 
 permit to be charged, directly or indirectly, by any agent or person 
 in his or their employ, for any ticket f)r tickets, any sum over and 
 above the sum printed on the face of such ticket or tickets, and 
 that all seats shall l)e sold and disposed of to the public applying 
 therefor, at the box office of the theatre, baseball park or other 
 place of amusement, selling said tickets, and that the license 
 granted hereunder shall be null and void and may be revoked by 
 the Mayor upon the failure or refusal of the applicant to comply 
 with any of the foregoing conditions." 
 
 Section 2. This ordinance shall be in full force and effect from and after 
 its passage and approval. 
 
 The following ordinance was introduced in the Chicago City Council on 
 April 4, 1915, by Alderman Willis O. Xance and referred to the Committee on 
 Judiciary where it is now pending: 
 
 Section 1. That Section 108 of The Chicago Code of 1911. as amended 
 by an ordinance adding Section 108a thereto, passed June 3, 1912. and appear- 
 ing on pages 622 and b23 of the Journal of the Proceedings of the City Coun- 
 cil of that date, be and the same is hereby further amended so as to read as 
 follows: 
 
 "108. Application for license — conditions — to be null and void if 
 not obscnrd — penalty. Any person or corporation desiring to pro- 
 duce, present, conduct, operate or offer for gain or profit any of the 
 foregoing classes of entertainments at any place within the city, shall 
 
 11
 
 make application to the Mayor in writing, setting out the full name and 
 address of the applicant, if an individual, and if a corporation, the full 
 names and residences of its principal officers ; also a description of the 
 place where it is proposed to produce, present, conduct, operate or offer 
 such entertainment, a description of the kind and class of entertain- 
 ment, the highest price to be charged for admission thereto, exclusive 
 of that charged for box seats, and the seating capacity of such place. 
 Such application shall coittain, plainly printed thereon, the following 
 agreements, zvhich, together zvith apt words indicating that the appli- 
 cant accepts the same as conditions for the issuance of the license 
 applied for, shall be subscribed by the applicant before any license shall 
 be issued thereunder: 
 
 "l. That every ticket of admission issued by said applicant when 
 licensed under such application shall have conspicuously printed upon 
 its face the price thereof, the date for which the same is issued and the 
 particular performance for which issued if there is to be more than one 
 on such date, and that no price in excess of that so designated will be 
 asked or accepted by or on behalf of such licensee. 
 
 "2. That no ticket of admission shall be issued, sold or offered 
 for sale by or on behalf of the licensee to whom a license is issued 
 under such application at a price in excess of that designated thereon, 
 or with the knowledge, purpose or intention that such ticket is to be 
 resold or offered for resale, and no licensee and no manager, officer, 
 agent or employe of any licensee shall, directly or indirectly, receive 
 any consideration of any nature whatsoever upon the sale of any such 
 ticket beyond or in excess of the price designated thereon, or directly 
 or indirectly enter into any arrangement, agreement or understanding 
 for the receipt of any such consideration. 
 
 "3. That any license issued by virtue of such application shall be 
 and become null and void by operation of law, without express revoca- 
 tion on the part of the Mayor or any other executive officer of the city, 
 if the licensee or his agents or employees acting for him, shall be ad- 
 judged guilty by a court of competent jurisdiction of having violated 
 any of the conditions named herein and so subscribed by the applicant 
 for a license. 
 
 "When the said application and the agreements therein contained 
 shall have been signed by the applicant, the Mayor shall make, or cause 
 to be made, an examination of such place, and if all the provisions of 
 this chapter, and all of the ordinances of the City of Chicago relating 
 to the giving of entertainments and of the location, construction and 
 maintenance of the places within which such entertainments are given, 
 are complied with, the Mayor shall issue, or cause to be issued, a 
 license to such applicant, attested by the city clerk, which shall entitle 
 the licensee to conduct, produce, present, operate or offer the class of 
 entertainment specified in such license at the place designated in such 
 application and for the period of time specified in such license, upon 
 the payment of the license fee hereinafter specified : Provided, how- 
 ever, that the said license shall contain apt words indicating that the 
 same is issued and accepted subject to the conditions and agreements 
 hereinbefore set forth contained in the application for same and sub- 
 scribed by the licensee when application for such license is mad^ ; and 
 the said conditions shall upon the issuance of such license at once 
 become binding on the licensee, his agents and employees, zvho shall con- 
 form to the requirements of same. 
 
 "Any person or corporation failing to comply zvith or violating 
 any of the provisions of this section, or, haznng received a license under 
 the terms and conditions imposed by this section, fails to observe the 
 conditions so imposed, shall be liable, in addition to any other penalty 
 prescribed by law, to a penalty of fifty dollars for each offense." 
 
 Section 2. This ordinance shall take effect and be in force from and after 
 its passage and due publication. 
 
 12
 
 CINCINNATI, OHIO. 
 
 (Population 402.175.) 
 
 The following is the Cincinnati ordinance as contained in the Code of 1911: 
 
 Section 800. Any person or persons whether as principals or agents, car- 
 rying on or engaged in the business of trafficking for profit in tickets of ad- 
 mission to any theatres, opera-house, music-hall, or other place of entertain- 
 ment, amusement or instruction, to which tickets of admission are offered 
 for sale to the general public, shall be required to pay a license fee of one 
 thousand dollars, the said license to be given for the term of one year from 
 its issue, and to be issued by the auditor of the city. But the trafficking in 
 tickets for public school entertainments, lecture courses, and lectures on his- 
 toric, literary or scientific subjects, shall not come within the provisions of 
 this section; nor shall the same apply to any sale or transfer of tickets of 
 admission to any theatre, opera-house, music-hall or other place of amuse- 
 ment, entertainment or instruction, when no greater price is asked or received 
 therefor than that for which such tickets were sold or offered for sale by the 
 persons or corporation issuing such tickets. 
 
 Section 831. After opening for the reception or entertainment of per- 
 sons attending any theatrical exhibition, public show, or exhibition of what- 
 ever name or nature, within the corporate limits, for which money or other 
 reward is in any manner demanded or received, it shall be unlawful for any 
 person or persons, owning or having control or charge of any such show or 
 exhibition, or of the sale or disposal of tickets or seats so as to reserve par- 
 ticular seats in either portion of said show or exhibition to any individuals, 
 or in any wise to discriminate in the right to or sale of any such seats. Every 
 place of amusement shall have framed and hung up at the door in some con- 
 spicuous place a printed copy of this section, .^ny person or persons violat- 
 ing this section shall on conviction be fined in any sum not exceeding ten dol- 
 lars and costs of prosecution; each ticket or seat so disposed of or sold shall 
 be deemed and held to be a separate offense and violation. 
 
 Section 832. Whenever any theatrical show or exhibition of any name oi 
 nature is given at any hall or building in this city licensed as a theatre, ana 
 for admission to which money is demanded, if such theatrical show or exhi- 
 bition is advertised by the proprietor of such theatre, show or exhibition in 
 any newspaper of general circulation published within the corporate limits 
 of Cincinnati, every such advertisement shall state the complete scale of prices 
 for admission to such theatrical show or exhibition, and such scale of prices 
 shall also be framed and hung up in some conspicuous place at the door of the 
 theatre; and it shall be unlawful for any person to sell or dispose of any ticket 
 or seat for such theatrical show or exhibition at a higher price for admission 
 thereto than according to the scale of prices so published, framed and hung 
 up; and it shall also be unlawful for any person to sell or dispose of any ticket 
 or seat for any such theatrical show or exhibition without such scale of prices 
 having been first advertised, together with any newspaper advertisement of 
 such show or exhibition, and also having been framed and hung up at the 
 door of the theatre as above required. .Any person or persons violating this 
 section shall, on conviction, be fined in any sum not e.xceeding $50.00 nor less 
 than $5.00. Each ticket or seat sold or disposed of contrary to the provisions 
 of this section shall be deemed and held to be a separate offense. 
 
 CLEVELAND, OHIO. 
 
 (.Population 639.431.) 
 
 Section 1,534 of the revised ordinances of 1907 reads as follows: 
 
 It shall be unlawful for any person to sell, or offer for sale, any ticket or 
 tickets of admission to any theatrical or other exhibition to be given within 
 the limits of the City of Cleveland, for a sum exceeding the price of admission 
 advertised for or charged by the owner or manager of such exhibition. Any 
 person violating any of the provisions of this section shall, on conviction 
 thereof, be fined in any sum not exceeding $50.00 and costs of the prosecution. 
 
 13
 
 DAYTON, OHIO. 
 
 (Population 123.794.) 
 
 Ordinance 6,244, passed May 26. 1904, provides: 
 
 Section 1. That is shall be unlawful for any person within the City of 
 Dayton, State of Ohio, to sell or offer for sale any theatrical ticket or tickets, 
 or other tickets of licensed amusements, outside of the box office or other 
 usual place of selling tickets, from any theatre or other place of licensed 
 amusement, unless such person shall first have obtained written authority 
 from the person or persons issuing such tickets to act as his or their agent 
 for such purpose. 
 
 Section 2. That it shall be unlawful for any person within the limits of 
 said City of Dayton, State of Ohio, to sell or offer for sale any ticket or tickets 
 of admission to any theatre or other licensed exhibition to be given within the 
 limits of said city for a sum exceeding- the price of admission advertised for 
 such exhibition by the owner or manager of such exhibition. 
 
 Section 3. That the provisions of this ordinance shall not apply to the 
 sale of tickets for public school entertainments, lecture courses, and lectures 
 of historic, literary or scientific subjects. 
 
 Section 4. That any person violating any of the provisions of this or- 
 dinance shall, on conviction thereof, be fined in any sum not exceeding $50.00, 
 and shall pay the costs of prosecution. 
 
 DENVER, COLO. 
 
 (Population 245,523.) 
 
 The Denver ordinance provides that: 
 
 It shall be unlawful for any person or corporation to sell or to engage in 
 the business of selling at a premium, or at a higher price than the price 
 printed thereon, any ticket of admission to any place of amusement, whether 
 such selling be his or its regular business, or be engaged in occasionally or 
 incidentally in connection with some other business. 
 
 No person or corporation conducting any such place of amusement, or 
 any officer, agent or employe thereof, shall directly or indirectly offer to sell, 
 sell, consent to sell, or permit to be sold, any ticket of admission to any place 
 of amusement to any broker, speculator, scalper or other person, regularly, 
 occasionally or incidentally engaged in the business of selling any such tickets 
 of admission for re-selling at an increased price above that printed thereon. 
 
 It shall be unlawful for any person or corporation to engage as a broker, 
 speculator or scalper in the business of selling tickets of admission to any place 
 or places of amusement at such increased price, in or on any street, sidewalk, 
 alley or public ground in the city and county. Penalty: from $25.00 to $200 fine. 
 
 DETROIT, MICH, 
 
 (Population 537,650.) 
 
 It is provided in the ordinance approved December 1, 1903, that: 
 Section 1. No person within the limits of the City of Detroit, standing 
 or remaining in any public street, or any doorway, or in any of the public 
 places, shall sell or offer for sale any theatre ticket or tickets of admission to 
 shows, concerts or entertainments. 
 
 Section 2. Any violation of the provisions of this ordinance shall be 
 punished by a fine not exceeding $10() and costs, and in the imposition of 
 such fine the court may make a further sentence that the offender may be im- 
 prisoned in the Detroit House of Correction for a period not exceeding six 
 months. 
 
 KANSAS CITY, MO. 
 
 (Population 281,911.) 
 
 Kansas City has no comprehensive ordinance on the subject. It is pro- 
 vided in the license ordinance that amusement ticket brokers shall be licensef? 
 and be required to pay a fee of $50.00 a month. 
 
 14
 
 LOUISVILLE, KY. 
 
 (Population 235,114.) 
 
 The ordinance providing for the licensing of business and occupations in 
 the City of Louisville requires that every ticket broker, scalper, person, firm 
 or corporation who buys or sells theatre, railroad or steamboat tickets shall 
 pay a license of $50.00 a year. It is made unlawful for any person thus licensed 
 to buy, sell or exchange tickets on the public streets or thoroughfares, or at 
 any other place within the city other than at the office of the licensee. 
 
 NEW HAVEN, CONN. 
 (Population 144,505.) 
 
 According to the ordinance of the City of New Haven as revised to Janu- 
 ary, 1914: 
 
 Section 23. All tickets of admission to public places of amusement, per- 
 formance, sport, exhibition or athletic contest, shall have printed on them in 
 a conspicuous manner the price for which they are to be sold and the date 
 or dates for which they are issued. 
 
 Section 24. No person, persons or corporation shall sell or offer for sale 
 in or upon any street, park, alley or other public place in the City of New 
 Haven, any ticket, privilege or license of admission to any place of public 
 amusement, performance, sport, exhibition, or athletic contest, or sell or offer 
 for sale anywhere within said City of New Haven any ticket, privilege or 
 license of admission to any place of public amusement, performance, sport, 
 exhibition or athletic contest at a price greater than the price printed thereon, 
 or at a price greater than the actual or fixed price of admission to such place 
 of public amusement, sport, performance, exhibition or athletic contest. 
 
 Section 25. Any person, persons or corporation violating any of the pro- 
 visions of either of the two sections preceding shall be fined not less than 
 $10.(H) nor more than $100 for each offense, and the sale of each ticket sold 
 in violation of any provision of said section shall constitute a separate and 
 distinct offense. 
 
 NEW YORK CITY. 
 (Population 5.333,539.) 
 
 The following ordinance was passed by the Board of Aldermen, February 
 14, 1911: 
 
 Section 1. No person shall conduct on or in any street in the City of 
 New York the business of selling or offering for sale any ticket of admission 
 or any other evidence of any license, contract or right of entry to any per- 
 formance or exhibition in or about the premises of any duly licensed theatre, 
 concert hall, place of public amusement, circus, common show, or any place 
 of public amusement for which a license is not required by law. Xor shall 
 any person solicit by words, signs, circulars or other means any person to 
 purchase any such ticket upon any such street. Any person guilty of a viola- 
 tion of this ordinance, or any part thereof, shall, upon conviction before a 
 City Magistrate, be punished by a fine not exceeding $10.00. and in default 
 of payment of any fine so imposed, shall be committed to the City Prison for 
 a term not exceeding ten days, each day of such imprisonment to be taken 
 as a liquidation of each dollar of such fine. 
 
 Section 2. This ordinance shall take effect thirty days after its approval 
 by the Mayor. 
 
 On February 1, 1910, an ordinance was introduced in the Board of Alder- 
 men to provide for the licensing and regulation of ticket speculators and re- 
 ferred to the Committee on Laws and Legislation. On Fel)ruary 21, 1911. the 
 ordinance was placed on file by the Board of Aldermen on the recommendation 
 of the committee to which it had been referred. The ordinance is as follows: 
 
 Section 1. No person shall engage in the business of selling in anj' of the 
 public streets of the City of New York, cither on his behalf or as the agent 
 of any other person, association or corporation, any ticket, order or cer- 
 tificate purporting to confer the right of admission to any place of amusement 
 or entertainment, unless he shall have first procured from the Mayor of the 
 city a license authorizing him to engage therein, and shall otherwise comply 
 with the provisions of this and two ensuing sections, in which event he shall, 
 
 lo
 
 until the expiration of such license or its revocation, be authorized to conduct 
 such business. A written application for such license shall be filed with the 
 Mayor of the city not less than one month prior to the granting of the 
 license, and shall be accompanied by the affidavits of two taxpayers of the city 
 who have known the applicant for at least one year, showing that said appli- 
 cant is a citizen of the United States, has resided within the state for a period 
 of one year, and is a person of good moral character. Such license shall be 
 granted on the payment to said Mayor of a fee of $500 for the first year 
 during which the applicant shall be so licensed, and of a further fee of $250 
 annually for each renewal of said license. The license shall run one year from 
 the date of issue thereof. Every license shall contain the name of the person 
 licensed, a designation of the street and number of the house where said person 
 shall reside and the number and date of such license, and such license shall 
 not be transferable. 
 
 Section 2. The Mayor shall require the applicant to deliver with his 
 application a bond to the city, in due form, in the penal sum of $2,000, with 
 two or more sufficient sureties, or a duly qualified surety company, approved 
 by the Mayor, conditioned that the obligor will not violate any of the terms, 
 conditions, provisions or requirements of this ordinance, and said bond shall 
 be filed in the office of the City Clerk. In case of any violation of the condi- 
 tions of said bond, the same shall be enforcible by the obligee thereof on 
 the certificate of the Mayor directing such enforcement. 
 
 Section 3. No person licensed as herein provided shall sell or offer to sell 
 any ticket, order or certificate purporting to confer the right of admission to 
 any place of amusement or entertainment, unless while so engaged he shall 
 wear conspicuously a badge, the style and character of which shall be desig- 
 nated by the Mayor, which shall not be less than two inches in diameter, 
 bearing a number corresponding with the number of his license. No person 
 so licensed shall permit his license or badge to be used by any other person; 
 nor shall he conduct the business for which he shall be so licensed within any 
 space on the sidewalk within ten feet of either side of the vestibule or en- 
 trance of any place of amusement or entertainment; nor shall he falsely repre- 
 sent the nature of any right or privilege which he shall sell or oflfer to sell. 
 
 Section 4. Any violation of the provisions of either of the three preceding 
 sections shall constitute a misdemeanor. The Mayor shall also be empowered 
 to revoke any such license for any violation of said provisions on giving to 
 the licensee notice of the charges made and a reasonable opportunity to defend 
 himself against them. 
 
 Section 5. This ordinance shall take effect thirty days after the approval 
 thereof by his Honor the Mayor. 
 
 On April 28, 1914, an ordinance relating to the sale of amusement tickets 
 at advanced prices was passed by the Board of Aldermen upon recommenda- 
 tion of the Committee on General Welfare. The ordinance, however, was 
 never approved by the Mayor, and on May 12, 1914, it was recalled from the 
 Mayor for further consideration by the Board of Aldermen. Thereupon the 
 Board of Aldermen moved to reconsider the ordinance as passed and it was 
 finally referred back to the Committee on General Welfare. The following is 
 the ordinance: 
 
 An Ordinance Relating to Places of Public Amusement: 
 
 Be it Ordained, by the Board of Aldermen of the City of New York, as 
 follows: 
 
 Section 1. No license shall be granted for any or all of the purposes set 
 forth in Section 1472 of the greater New York charter unless an application 
 therefor, subscribed by the person or corporation seeking said license, shall 
 first be made to the Police Department upon a printed form of application to 
 be furnished by said department, which said application shall contain plainly 
 printed thereon the following agreements on the part of the licensee, to wit: 
 
 First — That the price of each and every ticket of admission issued by or 
 on behalf of the licensee herein shall be plainly and legibly printed on such 
 ticket, and no price in excess of that so designated shall be asked or accepted 
 by or on behalf of the licensee. 
 
 Second — that no ticket of admission shall be issued, sold or oflfered for 
 sale by or on behalf of the licensee at a price in excess to that designated 
 
 16
 
 thereon or with the knowledge, purpose or intention that such ticket is to be 
 resold or offered for resale, and no licensee and no manager, officer, agent or 
 employee of any licensee shall, directly or indirectly, receive any considera- 
 tion of any nature whatsoever upon the sale of any such ticket beyond or in 
 excess of the price designated thereon, or directly or indirectly enter into any 
 arrangement, agreement or understanding for the receipt of any such consid- 
 eration. 
 
 Third — This license shall be and become null and void upon the entry of 
 a judgment for the penalty prescribed in Section 3 of this ordinance for a 
 violation of any of the foregomg agreements by such licensee, or his agents or 
 employes. 
 
 Section 2. Every license shall contain plainly printed therein the agree- 
 ment on the part of the licensee prescribed in Section 1 of this ordinance. 
 
 Section 3. In addition to any other penalty prescribed by law or ordi- 
 nance, every person violating any of the provisions of the foregoing section 
 of this ordinance shall be liable to a penalty of $50.(X) for each offense, to be 
 recovered in an action to be brought therefor in the name of the City of 
 New York. 
 
 Section 4. This ordinance shall take effect thirty days after approved by 
 the Mayor. 
 
 During the present session of the Legislature of the State of New York 
 a number of bills have been introduced designed to abate or prevent specula- 
 tion in tickets of admission to theatres and other places of amusement. 
 
 On January 14, 1915, a bill was introduced in the Senate of the State of 
 New York for the purpose of licensing the business of selling tickets for thea- 
 tres and places of amusement in cities of over 1,0(X),000 inhabitants. The bill 
 was read twice and then referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, where 
 it is now pending. The following is the bill: 
 
 Section 1. Chapter twenty-five of the laws of nineteen hun- 
 dred and nine, entitled ".\n act relating to general business, con- 
 stituting chapter twenty of the consolidated laws," is hereby 
 amended by inserting therein a new article, to be .\rticle 9-a, to 
 read as follows: 
 
 Sec. 144. License required; fee. On and after July 1, 1915, 
 it shall be unlawful for any person, association, copartnership or 
 corporation to engage or continue in the business of selling, dis- 
 posing of or purchasing, for other persons, tickets for theatres or 
 places of public amusement, in cities uf over one million inhal)it- 
 ants, unless such person, association, copartnership or corpora- 
 tion shall have complied with the provisions of this article, and 
 obtained a license so to do from the mayor of the city, or other 
 licensing authority in such city, for which license there shall be 
 paid, for the use of such city, the sum of two hundred and fifty 
 dollars, annually, for each theatre or place of amusement, in such 
 city, for which tickets are sold. 
 
 Sec. 145. Term of License. .Ml licenses issued on or between 
 the first day of July and the thirty-first day of October of any 
 year shall expire on the thirtieth day of June of the succeeding 
 year; and all licenses issued on or between the first day of No- 
 vember, and the thirtieth day of June of any year, shall expire 
 on the thirty-first day of October of the succeeding year. 
 
 Sec. 146. Specifications of License. The license shall specify 
 the place where the business of ticket selling shall be conducted, 
 and the theatre or place of public amusement, in respect to which 
 the license applies, and under said license only the business of 
 ticket selling for the theatre or place of public amusement speci- 
 fied in the license may be conducted at the place specified in the 
 license. 
 
 Sec. 147. New License for unexpired term. The mayor of 
 the city, or other licensing authority, issuing the license may, 
 in his discretion, on the application of the licensee, and on the 
 surrender of a license, issue a new license for the unexpired term 
 to any other person, association, copartnership or corporation, or 
 
 17
 
 to permit ticket selling for any other theatre or place of amuse- 
 ment, than that specified in the license surrendered, or for any 
 other locality in such city than the place specified in the license 
 surrendered. 
 
 Sec. 148. Presumption of conducting business. The sale of a 
 ticket for a theatre or place of public amusement, in any store, 
 room, stand or other place, to which the public is admitted, shall 
 be presumptive evidence that the business of ticket selling is 
 being carried on at said place by the person selling the ticket. 
 
 Sec. 149. Exhibition of license. The license shall be exhib- 
 ited, on demand, to any policeman or peace officer, and a refusal 
 so to do shall be presumptive evidence that no license has been 
 issued, and shall be ground for revoking the license or licenses 
 held by the ticket seller. 
 
 Sec. 149-a. Posting of license. In every place where tickets 
 for theatres or places of public amusement are sold, there shall 
 be posted in a conspicuous place the words "licensed ticket seller," 
 with the names of the theatres or places of amusement for which 
 licenses have been issued, authorizing the sale of tickets. 
 
 Sec. 149-b. Revocation of license. Any license issued under 
 this article may be revoked by the mayor or other licensing 
 authority, for any violation of this article, or for any disorderly 
 conduct on the part of the ticket seller, or any other person acting 
 for him, or under his authority, in said business. In any case 
 where a license is revoked, or where the licensing authority re- 
 fuses to renew a license, reasons for the action must be stated in 
 writing, and shall be a public record, and no license shall be issued 
 for said place for the term of six months after such revocation or 
 refusal to renew a license. 
 
 Sec. 149-c. Definition of terms. The words "ticket selling" 
 when used in this article shall be taken to mean selling tickets for 
 admission to a theatre or other place of public amusement. The 
 words "Ticket seller," when used in this article, shall be taken to 
 mean a person, association, copartnership or corporation, selling 
 or causing to be sold tickets for any theatre or place of public 
 amusement. 
 
 Sec. 149-d. Article not to apply to box oftice sales. This 
 article shall not be construed to apply to the sale of tickets at the 
 box office or box offices connected with and located upon the 
 premises of a duly licensed theatre or place of public amusement. 
 Sec. 149-e. Violation of article. Each violation of this article, 
 either by the ticket seller, or his agent or servant, shall be a mis- 
 demeanor. 
 
 Sec. 2. This act shall take effect July 1st, 1915. 
 Another bill was introduced in the Senate of the New York State Legis- 
 lature, on February 25, 1914, known as Bill No. 733, in relation to the sale of 
 tickets of admission at advanced prices. This bill was read twice and then 
 referred to the Committee on Codes. The following is a copy of the bill: 
 
 Section 447. Any person, firm, corporation or association who issues any 
 ticket or other token entitling the holder thereof or any other person to admis- 
 sion to any place of public amusement, which ticket or other token has not 
 plainly printed, marked or stamped thereon, so that the same is plainly legible 
 to the naked eye, the price or cost of said ticket, shall be guilty of a mis- 
 demeanor; and any person, firm, corporation or association issuing such tickets 
 or other tokens, who shall directly or indirectly receive or agree to receive, 
 or who shall agree that any other person, firm, corporation or association shall 
 directly or indirectly receive, any money or other article of value or any other 
 consideration beyond or in excess of the price printed, written or stamped 
 thereon, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. 
 
 Section 2. This act shall take effect September 1, 1914. 
 On January 14, 1915, a bill was introduced in the Assembly of the New 
 York State Legislature designed to prevent the sale of tickets of admission to 
 
 18
 
 theatres and places of amusement. The bill was read once and referred to the 
 Committee on Codes, where it is now pending, and reads as follows: 
 Section 515-a. A person or corporation who 
 
 1. Issues or causes to be issued tickets for admission to a theatre, circus, 
 boxing exhibition, baseball game, place of public entertainment or amuse- 
 ment operated I^y such person or corporation as owner, lessee, manager or 
 otherwise, unless the price of such ticket be printed thereon and the following 
 words: "This ticket cannot be re-sold for more than the price printed 
 thereon;" or 
 
 2. Owning, occupying, managing or controlling a building, room, park 
 or enclosure for the sale of tickets for theatres, circuses or places of public 
 entertainment or amusement, asks, demands or receives from any person for 
 the sale of a ticket a price in excess of the advertised or printed rate therefor; 
 or 
 
 3. Directly by himself, or by any agent or employe, offers for sale upon 
 any public place or thoroughfare any such ticket to a theatre, circus or place 
 of public entertainment or amusement, for admission thereto, or for a seat 
 or other privilege therein, at a price in excess of the advertised or printed rate 
 therefor; or 
 
 4. Establishes an agency or sub-agency for the sale of tickets of admis- 
 sion to a theatre, circus or place of public entertainment or amusement, at a 
 price in excess of the advertised price or printed rate therefor; or 
 
 5. Being the owner, lessee or occupant of a building, room, enclosure or 
 other place open to the public, permits any person or corporation to sell, or 
 exhibit for sale in such building, room or enclosure, or other place open to the 
 public, a ticket for admission to a theatre, circus, or place of entertainment or 
 amusement, for more than the price printed thereon, is guilty of a misde- 
 meanor, punishable by a tine not less than $50.00 nor more than $200, or by 
 imprisonment for not less than thirty days nor more than six months, or both. 
 
 This act shall take effect immediately. 
 
 NORFOLK, VA. 
 
 (l\)pulati<.ii S6,540.) 
 
 The Norfolk ordinance is a part of the general license ordinances of tlie 
 city, and provides that: 
 
 Section 141. Every person other than the manager, proprietor or his 
 agent, of a duly licensed place of amusement who sells tickets entitling the 
 holder thereof to admission to a theatre or other licensed place of amusement, 
 shall pay a licfiise tax of $50.(10 per year, or any part of a year. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA, PA. 
 (Population 1,657,810.) 
 
 The Philadelphia Code for 1904 provides that: 
 
 It shall not be lawful for any person or persons to sell, barter or exchange, 
 or offer for sale, barter or exchange, upon tlie public streets or highways or 
 in front of any theatre or place of amusement and entertainment tickets of 
 admission to such theatre or place of amusement and entertainment. 
 
 PITTSBURGH, PA. 
 
 ( ropulation 564.878. ) 
 
 The Pittsburgh City Council, on December 26, 1911, passed an ordinance 
 regulating the sale of tickets for dramatic, theatrical and other public per- 
 formances. The following is the ordinance: 
 
 Section 1. Be it ordained and enacted by the City of Pittsburgh, in Coun- 
 cil assembled, and it is hereby ordained and enacted b\' the authority of the 
 same, that from and after the passage and approval of this ordinance, each 
 and every ticket, or order for a ticket or tickets, or card of admission or 
 license, or any other token or paper or exhibit of any kind whatever, entitling 
 or purporting to entitle the bearer or bearers, holder or holders thereof, or any 
 person or persons whatever, to admission to any dramatic, theatrical, operatic, 
 
 19
 
 musical, baseball, football, or athletic or any other public performance, exhi- 
 bition or entertainment, of any kind whatever, within the City of Pittsburgh, 
 shall have the true and actual price or consideration thereof, or therefor, 
 plainly printed or stamped in a conspicuous place thereon. 
 
 Section 2. It shall be unlawful for any person, persons, firm, co-partner- 
 ship or corporation, to sell, barter, exchange or transfer, or oflFer for sale, 
 barter, exchange or transfer, or attempt to sell, barter, exchange or transfer, 
 or be concerned or interested, either directly or indirectly, in the sale, barter, 
 exchange or transfer, or the offer for sale, barter, exchange or transfer, or any 
 attempted sale, barter, exchange or transfer, of any ticket, or card of admis- 
 sion, or license, or any other token or paper or exhibit of any kind whatever, 
 entitling or purporting to entitle, the bearer or bearers, holder or holders 
 thereof, or any person or persons, whatever, to admission to, or to a seat or 
 seats, to or at any dramatic, theatrical, operatic, musical, baseball, football or 
 athletic, or any other public performance, exhibition or entertainment of any 
 kind whatever for any greater price, sum or consideration than the price, sum 
 or consideration plainly printed or stamped upon such ticket or tickets, or 
 card of admission or license, or token or other paper or exhibit, as aforesaid. 
 
 Section 3. It shall not be lawful for any person, persons, firm, co-partner- 
 ship or corporation to sell, barter, exchange or transfer, or attempt to sell, 
 barter, exchange or transfer, or offer for sale, barter, exchange or transfer, 
 or be concerned or interested, either directly or indirectly, in the sale, bar- 
 ter, exchange or transfer, or any attempted sale, barter, exchange or trans- 
 fer, or offer for sale, barter, exchange or transfer, in or upon any of the 
 municipal or public properties, streets, lanes, alleys or highways within the 
 City of Pittsburgh, including especially the front or fronts of any theatre, 
 opera house, athletic field, park, tent and any and all other places of amuse- 
 ment, any ticket or tickets, order for ticket or tickets, or card of admission, 
 or license, or any other token or paper or exhibit, entitling or purporting to 
 entitle the bearer or bearers, holder or holders thereof, or any person or 
 persons whatever to admission or to a seat or seats to or at any dramatic, 
 theatrical, operatic, musical, baseball, football or athletic or any other public 
 performance, exhibition or entertainment of any kind whatever. Provided, 
 that nothing in this ordinance shall be held or construed to prohibit the sale 
 of tickets to entertainments, the proceeds of which are to be devoted to chari- 
 table or benevolent purposes. 
 
 Section 4. Any person, or persons, firms, co-partnerships or corporations, 
 violating any of the provisions of this ordinance, shall be subject to a penalty 
 of not less than $10.00, nor more than $50.00, for each and every offense, and 
 in default of the payment thereof, shall be committed to the Allegheny County 
 jail or workhouse, for a period not exceeding thirty days. 
 
 Section 5. That any ordinance, or part of ordinance, conflicting with the 
 provisions of this ordinance, be and the same is hereby repealed, so far as 
 the same affects this ordinance. 
 
 PORTLAND, ORE. 
 
 (Population 260,601.) 
 
 The following is the Portland ordinance licensing speculators and brokers 
 in tickets of admission to theatrical performances: 
 
 Section 30. Ticket agents, ticket brokers, ticket scalpers, ticket messen- 
 gers, and all other persons engaged permanently or temporarily in the busi- 
 ness of buying or selling, or l)uying and selling theatrical tickets for profit, 
 commission, hire or reward shall pay each a license fee to the Treasurer of 
 said city of $100 per quarter year in advance of engaging in said business. 
 
 Every person shall be considered as engaging in the business described 
 in this section who shall buy or sell, or offer to buy or sell, or cause to be 
 bought or sold, theatrical tickets for profit, commission, hire or reward, either 
 as principal, agent, employe, or messenger. 
 
 The provisions of this ordinance shall not apply to general ticket agents 
 or theatres doing such business at the box offices, doors, or business offices of 
 theatres. 
 
 20
 
 MUNICIPAL REFERENCE 
 BULLETINS 
 
 No. 1 Rates of Fare of Public Motor Vehicles in 
 Fifteen Large Cities 
 
 No. 2 Municipal Dance Halls 
 
 No. 3 A Study of Rapid Transit in Seven Cities 
 
 No. 4 The Payment of Fines in Installments by 
 \ Offenders 
 
 No. 6 SPECULATION OR SCALPING IN AMUSE- 
 MENT TICKETS : Analysis of Municipal 
 Ordinances Prohibiting or Regulating the 
 Sale of Tickets of Admission at Advanced 
 Prices 
 
 Copies of the above bulletins may be obtained 
 upon application to 
 
 MUNICIPAL REFERENCE LIBRARY 
 
 1005 CITY HALL 
 
 CHICAGO
 
 UNrVERSrTY Of lUJNOIS-URBANA 
 
 3 0112 055379207