Joseph Henry Beale, Jr.

“ The court, however, gave judgment for the plaintiff. In the course of his opinion Trunkey, J., said, “It [the contract] is purposely made so as to entitle the bona fide holder to performance, and for breach to an action in his own name. . . . It is true, as claimed by the defendant [in error, i. e., Sleeper] , this action is to enforce not the contract between the ticket-scalper and the plaintiff in error, but between the defendant in error and the plaintiff in error. . . . As the plaintiff has a valid title to the ticket the contract between the defendant and himself is valid.” ”

“ It serves a threefold purpose: it is evidence in the passenger’s hands that he has paid his fare and has a right within the cars; it insures the payment of the passage money by all who take seats, and when it is redelivered to the company it becomes a voucher in its hands, against the office or agent who issued it, in the adjustment of its accounts.”
This is a singularly inaccurate description of a railroad ticket; which, whatever else it may be, is certainly the property of the holder, and not of the railroad company. ”

“ A theatre ticket is a contract securing the right of admission to a place of amusement. But the coupon, which is detached and retained by the bearer of the ticket, is a mere voucher, showing a right that has already accrued to the holder. At the moment the bearer presents his ticket for admission his right to the seat designated by the coupon accrues; and the coupon is, therefore, a voucher to prove a present right, rather than a contract to secure a future one. ”

“ These few examples will perhaps show clearly the distinction between a ticket and a receipt or voucher, and will make it evident that a ticket is a contract. It yet remains to consider what is the nature of the contract.
It will be noticed that a ticket was defined to be an obligation to give something, not money, to the bearer. An obligation to give money to the bearer is a bill, note, or bank-check. ”

“ Payment of the money to the ticket-agent does not, unless the payer secures a ticket, give the right to ride. [8] Nor has a ticket-holder in very many cases paid his fare; for instance, where a free pass is issued on some consideration, which is not the payment of fare, or where the purchaser of the ticket has sold or given it to the passenger. But the principal objection to the theory is this: it is impossible to pay for anything before one gets it. “Payment in advance,” so called, is really a payment which is the consideration of a promise to perform ”

“ If the actress is ill, and cannot appear, the one who has paid the price of admission is entitled to have it refunded, because his consideration has failed. One, however, who had bought a ticket days beforehand, who had gone to great expense on account of the performance in the way of carriage-hire, who had suffered great disappointment through the postponement, might doubtless recover against the maker of the ticket in an action of contract, in which his damages might well exceed the price he had paid for his ticket. ”

“ As a matter of fact it is evident that a ticket derives all its validity from the custom. The necessary elements of a consensual contract are wanting. The ticket-agent is an agent to sell tickets, not to make contracts for his employer. [22] There is no communication between the contracting parties; the terms are fixed by the custom, and the obligee may be one who has bought the ticket, not from the party issuing it, but from a prior holder. Such a contract as this is, in its essence, a formal, not a consensual, contract. ”

“ A ticket to be good against the company requires some consideration to have been given for it, otherwise it may be repudiated by the company. A free pass, for instance, may be revoked at any moment until it is actually used. ”

“ But certain persons devised a means of evading the statute. A number of men met and deposited each a certain sum of money; and cards ( mis-called tickets) were prepared, each bearing the name of a horse entered for the Derby. ”